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HEROES AND STATESMEN 



AMERICA, 



BEING A POPULAR BOOK OF 



American Biography 



EMBRACING THE LIVES OF THE REPRESENTATIVE 



GREAT MEN OF THE NATION. 



By JAMES D. McCABE, 

AUTHOR OF "the CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATBS.' 



UL-LXISTRA-TKID. 




P. W. ZIEGLER & CO., PUBLISHERS, 

518 ARCH ST., PHILADELPHIA, PA. 

180 E. ADAMS ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 620 OLIVE STREET, ST. LOUIS, MO. 

ODD fellows' BUILDING, CINCINNATI, O. 

1878. 



gTirr/ 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1877, by 

JAMES D. McCABE, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



PREFACE 



THE close of the First Century of our National existence has 
naturally directed the attention of the American people to an 
examination of the progress of our country during this period. We 
look back, with pride, over the record of what has been accomplished, 
and each event of our history acquires new interest and importance 
in the light which the experience of one hundred years sheds upon it. 
We behold our country grown from a narrow, thinly-peopled strip 
of territory along the Atlantic sea-board, to a mighty Republic, 
stretching from the frozen regions of the North to the sunny waters 
of the Mexican Gulf, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, its wilder- 
nesses converted into thriving towns and smiling farms, and its hand- 
ful of widely-scattered people increased to a powerful nation, strong 
at home and feared abroad. We see the rapid and steady improve- 
ment of the Republic in civilization and material prosperity. In the 
place of the few struggling towns of a century ago, we behold mag- 
nificent cities connected by a network of railways and telegraphs; 
our navigable rivers and lakes are plowed by noble steamers; and the 
sails of our commerce whiten every sea. The weak, dependent, and 
scarcely united Colonies have become a powerful, compact confed- 
eracy of States, peopled by an intelligent, educated and energetic 
race, who have made it a land where God is honored, where all men 
are endowed with equal rights before the law, and where the humblest 
citizen may attain the highest honors and dignities within the gift of 
the State ; a land in which education and refinement are more gen- 
eral, and the average comfort of the individual greater than in any 
country upon the globe. It is both right and needful, therefore, that 
we should give our earnest attention to the consideration of these 

remarkable achievements of our country, in order that we may learn 

(iii) 



IV PREFACE. 

from them the lessons they impart and the warnings they hold out to 
the future. 

But this wonderful story of progress is not all that should engage 
our attention at this period of national rejoicing. It is fitting that 
we should remember the great men of our history, to wliose labors 
we owe all that we now enjoy, and that we should know the story of 
their lives and the means by which they accomplished the task allotted 
to them. America has no prouder record than that of the lives of 
her great men — none from which her children may draw greater in- 
spiration, or learn more useful lessons. Not one of them owed his 
success to fortune or social position, but all were eminently self-made 
men; and their lives are full of hope and encouragement to those 
who would emulate their glorious examples. 

The writer of these pages has thought the present a proper time to 
offer to his countrymen this collection of brief biographies of the 
great men whose deeds illustrate the First Century of American 
Independence. There never was a time when such a work was more 
needed; there never was a time when our people needed, as they do 
now, to be taught that enduring success in public life can be attained 
only by honesty, disinterested patriotism, and fitness for the task 
assumed, and that he oniy is the truest lover and best servant of his 
country who is willing to sink all considerations of self in his desire 
to promote the welfare of his fellow-citizens. Such was the spirit that 
animated the men whose lives are recorded in these pages. They 
were often mistaken as to the means to be employed, or the course to 
be pursued, but never as to the end to be attained. They were will- 
ing to spend life and fortune in the effort to benefit their country, 
and faithfully and patiently sought to qualify themselves for the great 
work to which they were called. They have their reward in the 
grateful love and honor with which their country cherishes their mem- 
ory, and their lives are lessons which each American should take 
deeply to heart. 

Of course, in the preparation of a work like this, it was not possible 
to include all the great men of America. It therefore seemed best to 
the writer to select only those who may be considered the represen- 
tative men of the various periods of our history. In the selection of 



PREFACE. V 

subjects, choice was made only of those who were natives of the 
country ; the only exception to this rule being the case of Alexander 
Hamilton, who, being a native of the West Indies, may be properly 
regarded as an American in the sense in which that term is used in 
this work. Choice was made also of the dead alone, inasmuch as, 
their work being finished, a juster and more complete estimate may 
be formed of their character than in the case of living men. It is 
believed that a sufficient number of biographies is herein presented 
to the reader to accomplish the object of this work, and to familiarize 
him with the representative men of each distinctive period of our 
history ; and that the candid reader will admit the claim that each 
one whose name is herein mentioned, truly merits the title of " great." 

" The fame that a man wins himself is best ; 
That he may call his own : honors put on him 
Make him no more a man than his clothes do, 
Which are as soon ta'en off; for in the warmth 
The heat comes from the body, not the weeds ; 
So man's true fame must strike from his own deeds." 
April igth, 1876. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGB. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 25 

Ancestry of Washington — His Parents — Birth — Childhood — Death of his 
Father — Lawrence Washington — The Mother of George Washington — 
She Prevents him from Going to Sea — Lord Fairfax — He Engages 
George Washington to Survey his Lands — Washington's Life as a Sur- 
veyor — His Visits to Greenway Court — The English and French on the 
Ohio — Washington is made a Major — Visits the West Indies — Death of 
Lawrence Washington — Gov. Dinwiddie sends Washington on a Mission 
to the Ohio — His Journey — Reaches the French Forts — Delivers his Let- 
ter — Sets out on his Return — A Perilous Journey — Narrow Escapes — 
Successful Accomplishment of his Mission — Washington in Command of 
the Virginia Regiment — Beginning of the French and Indian War — 
Washington Crosses the Mountains — Defeats Jumonville — Fort Necessity 
— Surrender of the Fort — Washington Resigns his Commission — Ap- 
pomted Aide-de-camp to Gen. Braddock — Braddock Neglects his Advice 
— Advance of the Army Beyond the Mountains — Defeat of Braddock's 
Army — Heroic Conduct of Washington — His Remarkable Escape — He 
is made Commander-in-Chief of all the Virginia Forces — His Meeting 
with Mrs. Custis — Capture of Fort Duquesne — Close of the War — Mar- 
riage of Washington — Enters the Assembly — Life as a Planter — Mount 
Vernon — The Troubles with England — The Stamp Act — Washington 
Embraces the Cause of America — Supports the Non-Intercourse Plan — 
His Course in the Assembly — A Member of Congress — Patrick Henry's 
Opinion of him — Elected to the Virginia Convention — Favors Resist- 
ance — Battle of Lexington — Washington in the Second Colonial Con- 
gress — Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army — Accepts 
the Position — His Disinterestedness — Letters to his Wife — Sets out for 
Cambridge — Battle of Bunker Hill — Washington Takes Command of the 
Army — The Siege of Boston — Its Difficulties and Trials — Invasion of 
Canada — Its Failure — Arrival of Artillery in Washington's Camp — He 
Seizes Dorchester Heights — Evacuation of Boston by the British — Decla- 
ration of Independence — Washington at New York — The British Occupy 
Staten Island — Arrival of Lord Howe — His Letters to Washington — Bat- 
tle of Long Island — Retreat from Long Island and New York — Loss of 
Fort Washington — Retreat Across New Jersey — Confidence of Washing- 
ton — Washington Dictator — He Recrosses the Delaware — Battle of Tren- 
ton — Battle of Princeton — The Briti-sh Expelled from New Jersey — The 
Campaign of 1777 — Battles of the Brandy wine and Germantown — The 

(vii) 



VIU CONTENTS. 

British in Philadelphia— Advance of Burgoyne — Battles of Bennington 
and Behnius' Heights — Surrender of Burgoyne — The Winter at Valley 
Forge — The Conway Cabal — Intrigues Against Washington — Baron Steu- 
ben — The Alliance with France — Battle of Monmouth — Washington 
Crosses the Hudson — Labors of Washington in Behalf of the Cause — 
Events of 1779 — The War in the South — Generosity of Washington to- 
wards Gates — The French at Newport — Arnold's Treason — Execution of 
Andre — The French on the Hudson — A Change of Plans — Siege of 
Yorktown — Surrender of Lord Cornwallis — Last Years of the War — 
Washington Rebukes an Offer to Make him Dictator — Close of the War — 
Washington's Farewell to his Officers — Resigns his Commission — Life at 
Mount Vernon — Presides Over the Federal Convention — Adoption of the 
Constitution — Washington Elected President of the United States — His 
Journey to New York — Inauguration — Organizes the New Government 
— Removal of the Capital to Philadelphia — How Washington Received 
the News of St. Clair's Defeat — Political Quarrels — Reelection of Wash- 
ington — Events of his Second Term — Citizen Genet — Firmness of the 
President — The "Whisky Insurrection" — Jay's Treaty — The Farewell 
Address — Its Reception by the Countiy — Washington Retires from the 
Presidency — Returns to Mount Vernon — The Quarrel with France — 
Washington Commander-in-Chief of the Army — Last Illness — Death of 
Washington — Tributes to his Memory. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 145 

The Father of Thomas Jefferson — Birth of Jefferson — Childhood — Death of 
his Father — Enters William and Mary College — His Real Instructors — 
Jefferson Studies Law — Admitted to the Bar — Success as a Lawyer — The 
Quarrel with England — Jefferson in the Assembly — First Efforts Against 
Slavery — His Marriage — " A Summary View of the Rights of America" 
— Relinquishes his Law Practice — Elected to the Continental Congress — 
Drafts the Declaration of Independence — Resigns his Seat in Congress — 
A Member of the Virginia Legislature — His Reforms for Virginia — Gov- 
ernor of Virginia — His Course as Governor — Narrow Escape from Cap- 
ture — End of his Term — His Vindication — Death of Mrs. Jefferson — Mr. 
Jefferson Elected to Congress — Appointed an Envoy to France — Arrival 
in Paris — Appointed Minister to France — His Services to his Country 
while Abroad — Returns to the United States — Appointed Secretary of 
State by President Washington — His Services in the Cabinet — Quarrel 
with Hamilton — Resigns his Office — Elected Vice President — Elected 
President of the United States — Events of his First Term — Purchase of 
Louisiana — Jefferson Reelected President — Outrages of England and 
France on American Commerce — Attack on the Chesapeake — The Em- 
bargo — Retirement of Mr. Jefferson from the Presidency — Life at Monti- 
cello — Founds the University of Virginia — Pecuniary Troubles — Last 
Years — Death of Mr. Jefferson — His Epitaph. 



CONTENTS. IX 

NATHANIEL GREENE. 178 

Birth — Early Life — Favors Resistance to Great Britain— Expelled from the 
Society of Friends— Outbreak of the Revolution— Greene a Brigadier- 
General — Attachment to Washington— Siege of Boston— Illness — Loss 
of Fort Lee— Battle of Trenton— Greene Saves the Army at the Brandy- 
wine— Battle of Germantown — Greene made Quartermaster-General — 
Washington's Opinion of Him— A Quaker's Tribute to the Fighting 
General— Greene Resigns Tlis Office of Quartermaster- General— Advises 
the Execution of Andre— Appointed to the Chief Command in the 
South — Collects an Army in the Carolinas— Advance of Cornwallis — 
Battle of the Cowpens— Greene Joins Morgan— Brilliant Retreat of 
Greene into Virginia— Cornwallis's Opinion of Greene— Battle of Guil- 
ford Court House— Extraordinary Endurance of General Greene— Battle 
of Hobkirk's Hill— Siege of Ninety-Six— Battle of Eutaw Springs- 
Redemption of the Carolinas— Close of the War— Last Years and Death 
of General Greene. 



JOHN ADAMS. 196 

Birth of John Adams— Education— Designed for the Ministry— Teaches 
School— Studies Law— Admitted to the Bar— Early Struggles— His First 
Office — Marries— Takes Part in the Controversy with England— Defends 
the British Soldiers Engaged in the Boston Massacre— Elected to the 
General Court— Becomes One of the Leaders of the Patriot Party— Pro- 
poses the Impeachment of the Chief Justice— Elected to the First Colo- 
nial Congress— Endeavors to Secure the Aid of the other Colonies for 
Massachusetts— Mr. Adams in the Second Colonial Congress— Labors for 
Independence — Nominates Washington to be Commander-in- Chief- 
Unpopularity of Mr. Adams— Causes of It— Is made Chief Justice of 
' Massachusetts — Organizes the Courts of the Province— Bancroft's Picture 
of John Adams— He declares Independence Inevitable— His "Thoughts 
on Government" — Supports the Declaration of Independence — His Ser- 
vices in Congress — Appointed an Envoy to France — Sails for Europe — 
Reaches France after the Conclusion of the Alliance— Returns Home — 
Appointed a Commissioner to Treat for Peace— Quarrel with the Count 
de Vergennes— Minister to Holland— Success of His Mission— Returns 
to Paris— His Share in the Peace Negotiations— Visits England— Returns 
to France— Is Joined by Mrs. Adams— Appointed Minister to the Court 
of St. James— A Tiying Duty— Returns Home— Elected Vice-President 
of the United States— Elected President— His Great Error— Quarrel with 
France— The Alien and Sedition Laws — Mr. Adams's Connection with _ 
Them— Hostilities with France— Hamilton Endeavors to bring on War- 
Firmness of President Adams— Settlement of the Quarrel— Resentment 
of Hamilton— Defeat of Mr. Adams for a Second Term— Death of Mrs, 
Adams — Last Years and Death of John Adams. 



X CONTENTS. 

HENRY KNOX. 227 

Birth — Becomes a Bookseller — Embraces the Patriot Cause — Ordered to Re- 
main in Boston — Escapes to the American Camp — Is Given a Com- 
mand — Attracts the Attention of Washington — Is Recommended for 
Colonel of Artillery — Brings Cannon from Ticonderoga to Cambridge — 
Is Made Chief of Artillery — Brigadier-General — At Monmouth — Wash- 
ington's Friendship for Knox — Seige of Yorktown — General Knox Pro- 
poses the Founding of the Order of the Cincinnati — Is Made Secretary of 
War — Retires from the Cabinet — Last Years and Death. 



PATRICK HENRY. 234 

John Henry Settles in Virginia — Birth of Patrick Heniy — Early Life — An 
Unpromising Childhood — Singular Traits — Patrick Becomes a Merchant 
— How He Kept a Store — Failure — His Marriage — Tries Farming — 
Becomes a Student — Meets Thomas Jefferson — Studies Law — Admitted 
to the Bar — The Parson's Cause — Triumph of Patrick Henry — Mr. Henry 
a Successful Lawyer — Removes to Louisa County — Astonishes the Vir- 
ginia Assembly — The Quarrel with England — Patrick Henry in the As- 
sembly — Assumes the Leadership of the Patriot Party — His Warning to 
King George — The Five Resolutions — Predicts Independence — Elected 
to the\ Continental Congress — His First Speech in That Body — Patrick 
Henry in the Virginia Convention — Proposes to Arm the Province — His 
Great Speech — Lord Dunmore Begins the War — March of the Hanover 
Troop — Patrick Henry Elected to the Command of the Virginia Forces 
— Bad Treatment by the Convention — Resigns His Commission — Gov- 
ernor of Virginia — Opposes the Constitution of the United States — Re- 
tires from Public Life — Letter to His Daughter — Death. 



ISRAEL PUTNAM. 258 

Birth — Early Life — Chivalrous Conduct — Marries — Becomes a Farmer — Put- 
nam and the She-wolf — The French and Indian War — Putnam Raises a 
Company of Rangers — A Daring Adventure — Major Putnam — Loss of 
Fort William Henry — Putnam Saves Fort Edward — A Narrow Escape — 
Putnam Captured by the Indians — Is Saved from Death by Molang — Is 
Exchanged — Made Lieutenant-Colonel — Captures French Vessels of War 
— Close of the War — Putnam Serves in the West Indies — Advises Re- 
sistance to the Injustice of Great Britain — His Letter to the Boston Pa- 
triots — The News of Lexington — Putnam Sets off for Cambridge — Is 
Made a Brigadier-General — Putnam at Bunker Hill — Congress Makes 
Putnam a Major-General — The Siege of Boston — Putnam at New York 
— Battle of Long Island — Evacuation of New York — Putnam in Com- 
mand at Philadelphia — His Kindness to a Wounded Officer — His Ruse 
— Is Placed in Command of the Highlands — His Mode of Dealing with 



CONTENTS. XI 

Spies — Loss of the Highland Forts — Putnam Removed — Mutiny of the 
Connecticut Troops — Putnam's Address — His Adventure at Horseneck 
— A Perilous Ride — Is Stricken with Paralysis — Leaves the Army — Last 
Years, and Death. 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 273 

Birth — Educated at Harvard — Tries Commercial Life — Does Not Succeed at 
It — Made Tax Gatherer — Engages in Politics — His Plan of Resistance 
— Bancroft's Picture of Him — " The Last of the Puritans" — Mr. Adams 
Elected to the Assembly — Leads Massachusetts Towards Resistance to 
the King — Bold Course of Mr. Adams — The Boston Massacre — The 
Town Meeting — The People of Boston Demand the Removal of the 
King's Troops — Samuel Adams Conquers Governor Hutchinson — An 
Impressive Scene — Samuel Adams Organizes Committees of Correspond- 
ence — His Share in the Destruction of the Tea — George III. Attempts 
to Buy The Last of the Puritans — Mr. Adams Secures the Election of 
Delegates to Congress — His Influence In the Congress — Escape from 
Lexington — April 19th, 1775 — Mr. Adams in Congress — Labors for In- 
dependence — His Services in Congress — Aids in Preparing a Constitution 
for Massachusetts — Delegate to the State Convention — Governor of Mas- 
sachusetts — Death. 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 287 

Birth — Early Life — Outbreak of the Revolution — Wayne Raises a Regiment 
of Pennsylvania Troops — Takes Part in the Invasion of Canada — Briga- 
dier-General — Ordered to Washington's Army — Gallantry of Wayne — 
Captain Graydon's Sketch of Him — " Mad Anthony" — Battle of the 
Brandywine — The Affair at Paoli — Wayne at Germantown — Battle of 
Monmouth — Wayne Complimented by Washington — The Storming of 
Stony Point — A Brilliant Affair — " Mad Anthony" in Virginia — His 
Presence of Mind — Close of the War— Wayne Given the Command of 
the Western Army — Defeats the Indians — Last Sickness and Death. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 297 

Birth — Childhood — Early Promise — Becomes a Printer's Apprentice — First 
Attempts at Authorship — Released from His Apprenticeship — Runs 
away from Boston — Arrival in Philadelphia Deceived by Governor 
Keith — His Journey to England — Returns to Philadelphia — Sets up in 
Business — Marriage — Founds the Philadelphia Library- — Poor Richard's 
Almanac — Rapid Success of Franklin — He Engages in Politics — 
Elected to the Assembly — Appointed Post-master — The Albany Con- 
gress — Franklin's Plan of Union — His Philosophical Siudies — His Dis- 



Xll CONTENTS. 

coveries in Electricity — Is Appointed the Agent of Pennsylvania in 
England — His Residence Abroad — Opposes the Stamp Act — His Exam- 
ination before the House of Commons — Exposes Governor Hutchinson's 
Treachery — Resentment of the Court — Franklin Insulted by the Privy 
Council — His Warnings to the Ministers — Franklin Sails for America — 
His Arrival in Philadelphia — Elected to the Continental Congress — 
Supports the Declaration of Independence — Is Appointed Envoy to 
France — Sails for Europe — His Arrival in France — Reaches Paris — In- 
terview with Count de Vergennes — France Grants Assistance to the 
Colonies — Popularity of Franklin — France Recognizes the Independence 
of the United States — Treaty of Alliance Negotiated — Franklin at Court — 
Opens Negotiations with the British Ministry for Peace — Progress of the 
Negotiations — Conclusion of the Treaty — Franklin Leaves Passy — Sails 
for America — Arrival in Philadelphia — Governor of Pennsylvania — Last 
Years and Death — Honors to His Memory. 



FRANCIS MARION. 325 

The Huguenot Refugees — Birth of Marion — His First Sea Voyage — Serves 
Against the Indians — Outbreak of the Revolution — Marion Elected a 
Captain in the Carolina Forces — Takes Part in the Defense of Fort 
Moultrie — Breaks His Leg — Goes Home to Recover — Capture of Charles- 
ton and Conquest of South Carolina — Marion Joins DeKalb — Arrival of 
Gates — Marion Sent on Detached Duty — Battle of Camden — Marion's 
Resolve — Formation of the Light Brigade — Brilliant Exploits of the 
Brigade — Effect of Marion's Successes— Testimony of Cornwallis — Char- 
acter of Marion — The General and the British Officer — A Hero's Dinner 
— Siege of Fort Motte — A Revolutionary Matron — Close of the War — 
Marion in the Legislature — His Marriage — His Views on Religion — Last 
Illness — Death — His Epitaph. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 338 

Birth and Parentage — Early Ambition — A Hard Student — First Literary At- 
tempt — Enters King's College, New York — Takes Sides with the Colo- 
nies in the Quarrel with England — Raises a Company of Artillery — 
Meeting with General Greene — Joins the Army with His Battery — Retreat 
Across New Jersey — Hamilton Appointed Aide-de-camp to the Com- 
mander-in-Chief — Washington's Affection for Him — Tact and Ability of 
Hamilton — Treason of Arnold — Washington's Opinion of Hamilton- 
Hamilton Leaves the Staff — Letter to Mr. Duane — Siege of Yorktown — 
Gallantry of Hamilton — He Leaves the Army — Studies Law — Elected 
to Congress — In the Federal Convention — His Labors in Behalf of the 
Constitution — " The Federalist" — Appointed Secretary of the Treasury 
by President Washington — Character of Hamilton — The Financial Prob- 



CONTENTS. XIU 

lem — Hamilton's Measures of Relief^The Funding Bill — The Change 
of the Seat of Government — The Bank of the United States — Influence 
of Hamilton in the Cabinet — He Denounces the French Revolution — 
Quarrel Between Hamilton and Jefierson — Hamilton Leaves the Cabinet 
— His Influence Over the Federalist Party — His Responsibility for the 
Alien and Sedition Laws — Endeavors to Precipitate a War with France 
^Is Checked by President Adams — His Revenge — Destroys the Fed- 
eralist Party — His Proposition to Governor Jay — Personal Character- 
istics of Hamilton — Death of Philip Hamilton — The Quarrel with Burr 
— The Duel — Death of Hamilton. 



GEORGE CLINTON. 362 

Ancestry — Birth — Studies Law — Serves in the French and Indian War — 
Advocates Resistance to England — Elected to the Continental Congress 
— Outbreak of the Revolution — Clinton Appointed a Brigadier-General 
in the New York Forces — In Command of the Highlands — Fortifies the 
Highlands — British Ships in the Hudson — Clinton a Brigadier-General in 
the Continental Army — Elected Governor of New York — Sir Henry Clin- 
ton Ascends the Hudson — Capture of Forts Montgomery and Clinton 
by the British — Heroic Defense of the Forts — Escape of Governor Clin- 
ton — His Services During the War — Elected Vice-President of the United 
States — Death of Governor Clinton. 



JOHN HANCOCK. 371 

Birth — Education — Becomes a Merchant — His Success — Takes Part in the 
Quarrel with England — A Leader of the Patriot Party — His Influence — 
Seizure of the Liberty — British Troops in Boston — Hancock Advises Re- 
sistance — President of the Provincial Congress — Hancock Elected to the 
Continental Congress — Is Chosen President of that Body — Hancock Pro- 
scribed by the King — Proposal to Burn Boston — Patriotic Speech of Han- 
cock — Letter to Washington — Signs the Declaration of Independence — 
Elected Governor of Massachusetts — Last Years — Death. 



CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY. 378 

Birth — Educated in England — Admitted to the Bar — Returns to Charleston — 
Is made Colonel of the First Regimpnt — Joins Washington's Army — Re- 
turn to the South — The Campaign Under General Lincoln — Siege of 
Charleston — Surrender of the City — Pinckney a Prisoner of War — Close 
of the War — Flattering Offers to Colonel Pinckney — Minister to France — 
Treatment of Pinckney by the Directory — His Services Abroad — Returns 
Home — War with France — Pinckney a Major-General — His Letter to 
Washington — The War Averted — Professional Life of Gen. Pinckney — 
His Death. 



Xiv CONTENTS. 

JOHN JAY. 384 

The Founder of the Jay Family — Birth of John Jay — Education — Studies Law 
— Admitted to the Bar — Marriage — The Quarrel with England — Jay the 
Leader of the Conservatives of New York— Hopes for a Peaceful Settle- 
ment—A Member of the Continental Congress— Character of Jay — His 
Conservative Measures— The Second Petition to the King— Its Fate — ^Jay 
Embraces the Cause of Independence — A Member of the Foreign Com- 
mittee of Congress— Carries New York for Independence— Jay's Services 
in the New York Convention — Prepares the State Constitution — Ap- 
pointed Chief Justice of New York— Returns to the Continental Congress 
—Minister to Spain— A Courageous Act— Jay Goes to Paris— His Share 
in the Peace Negotiations— Close of the War — Jay Returns Home — Sec- 
retary of Foreign Affairs- His Share in "The Federalist"— The "Doctor's 
Mob" Jay Wounded — His Services in Behalf of the Federal Constitu- 
tion His Preference for a Stronger Government — Appointed Chief Jus- 
tice of the United States— Political Views— The Mission to England — 
" Jay's Treaty" — Elected Governor of New York— Retires from Public 
Life — Last Years — Death. 



JOHN MARSHALL. 400 

Birth— Early Life— Col. Thomas Marshall— John is sent to School— Studies 
Law— Outbreak of the Revolution— Marshall joins the Culpepper Minute 
Men Battle of Great Bridge— His Services in the Revolution — Popular- 
ity with the Troops— Wins the Friendship of Washington— Returns to 
Virginia— Reads Law— Failure of the Plan to Raise New Troops— Mar- 
shall Returns to the Army— Resigns his Commission— Admitted to the 
Bar— Marriage— Rapid Success— Removes to Richmond—" The Omni- 
potence of a Powdered Wig and a Black Coat"— Marshall in the Virginia 
Convention— Advocates the Adoption of the Federal Constitution— 
A Member of the Legislature— His Defense of Jay's Treaty— Declines 
the Attorney-Generalship— Envoy to France— Returns to the United 
States— His Reception— Elected to Congress— His Career in Congress— 
His Defense of the Alien and Sedition Laws— Case of Jonathan Robbins 
—Appointed Secretary of State— Chief Justice of the United States— His 
Career as Chief Justice— The Virginia Convention of 1829— The "Life 
of Washington"— Characteristic Anecdotes of Judge Marshall— Failure 
of his Health — His Death. 



JAMES MADISON 413 

Birth— Early Education— At Princeton— Injures His Health by Study— Studies 
Law— Admitted to the Bar— Denounces Religious Proscription— Elected 
to the Virginia Convention — Becomes Acquainted with Thomas Jefferson 
-Jefferson's Opinion of Madison— Madison in the Legislature— A Mem- 



CONTENTS, XV 

ber of the Executive Council — Elected to Congress — His Services in 
that Body — Efforts to Secure a Better System of Government — Returns 
to the Virginia Legislature — The Convention at Annapolis — Call for a 
Federal Convention — Madison in the Convention of 1787 — His Plan for a 
Federal Government — Labors in Behalf of the Constitution — His Record of 
Debates — His Share in "The Federalist" — Madison in the Virginia Con- 
vention — Secures the Ratification of the Constitution — Elected to Congress 
— Marriage — Services in Congress — Breaks with Hamilton — Supports Mr. 
Jefferson — Resolutions of 1798 — Jefferson, President — Appoints Madison 
Secretary of State — Madison Elected President of the United States — 
The Second War with England — The Return of Peace — The African 
Pirates Humbled — Close of Mr. Madison's Administration — Retires to 
Private Life — The Virginia Convention of 1829 — Mr. Madison a Mem- 
ber of It — Characteristic Anecdote — Last Years and Death of Mr. 
Madison. 



JAMES MONROE. 433 

Birth — Early Life — Enters College — Joins the Continental Army — Battle of 
Trenton — Gallantry of Monroe — Is Promoted — Appointed Aide-de-camp 
to Lord Sterling — Resigns His Commission — Studies Law — Admitted to 
the Bar — Elected to the Legislature — In Congress — Endeavors to Secure 
a Better System of Government^His Marriage — In the Virginia Con- 
vention — Opposes the Federal Constitution — Elected to the U. S. Senate 
— Minister to France — His Popularity with the French — Secures the 
Release of Paine — Recalled by President Washington — Elected Governor 
of Virginia — Appointed Envoy to France by President Jefferson — Secures 
the Cession of Louisiana — Minister to England — Secretary of State — The 
Second War with England — Mr. Monroe Assumes the Duties of Secretary 
of War — The Treaty of Ghent — End of the War — Resumes His Place 
as Secretary of State — Elected President of the United States — Leading 
Measures of His Administration — "The Monroe Doctrine" — Retires 
from Public Life — A Member of the Virginia Convention of 1829 — Last 
Years and Death of Mr. Monroe. 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 444 

Birth — Education — Letter to His Father — Accompanies his Father to France 
— The Second Visit to Europe — At School Abroad — Secretary to Mr. 
Dana — Returns from Russia — Close of the Revolution — Mr. Adams Re- 
turns to the United States — Graduates at Harvard — Admitted to the Bar 
— His Success as a Political Writer — Attracts the Attention of President 
Washington — Mr. Adams Appointed Minister to Holland — Services 
Abroad — Marriage — Minister to Berlin— Residence in Germany— Recalled 
— Elected to the Senate of the United States — His Independence — Re- 
signs His Seat— A Professor in Harvard College— Minister to Russia — The 



3jyi CONTENTS. 



Second Wnr with England-The Russian Offer of Mediation-The Treaty 
of Ghent— Mr. Adams Appointed Minister to England— Election of Mr. 
Monroe to the Presidency— Mr. Adams Secretary of State-Mr. Adams 
Elected President, of the United States-Letter to His Father- Measures 
of His Administration-Personal Traits-Close of His Term of Office 
— Electe<l to Congress— His Course in the House-An Exciting Scene- 
Triumph of Mr. Adams— His Defense of the Captured Africans— A 
Thrilling Spectacle-Failure of His Health— Stricken Down on the 
Floor of the House— Death of Mr. Adams. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 462 

The Jackson Family-Settlement in South Carolina-Birth of Andrew Jack- 
son—His Boyhood— Fondness for Manly Sports— Outbreak of the Revo- 
lution-The Waxhaw Massacre-The Jacksons take Refuge in North 
Carolina-Andrew Joins the Army-The Return of the Waxhaw Settlers 
—Surprised by the Enemy— Capture of Andrew and Robert Jackson- 
Andrew and the British Officer— Brutal Treatment of the Prisoners by 
the British— Release of the Jacksons— Death of Robert Jackson— An- 
drew Loses His Mother— Close of the Revolution— Andrew Removes to 
Salisbury, North Carolina— Studies Law— Admitted to the Bar— Re- 
moves to Nashville— Appointed State's Attorney— Marries Mrs. Robards 
—An Unpleasant Discovery— Re-Marriage— Formation of the State of 
Tennessee— Jackson Elected to Congress— Appointed Judge of the Su- 
preme Court— His Administration of Justice— Major-General of Militia 
—Solicits the Governorship of Louisiana— A Bad Investment— Honor- 
able Conduct of Jackson-Begins Life Afresh-The Second War with 
England— Jackson Takes the Field— Protects His Troops Agamst the 
Injustice of the Government— The Creek War— Jackson Marches Agamst 
the Indians— Defeats Them at Tallasehatche— The Indian Babe— Battle 
of Talladega— Jackson Quells a Mutiny— Battles of Emuckfaw and 
Enotchhopo— Decisive Victory over the Indians at Horseshoe Bend- 
Jackson a Major-General in the Regular Army of the U. S.— Invades 
Florida— Seizes Pensacola— Hastens to New Orleans— Arrival of the 
British Army and Fleet— Battle of New Orieans— Withdrawal of the 
British—Jackson Arrests Judge Hall— Close of the War— Jackson Fined 
by Judge Hall for Contempt of Court— The Seminole War— Jackson 
Seizes St. Mark's in Florida— Is Sustained by President Monroe— Re- 
signs His Commission— Elected to the Senate of the United States- 
Death of Mrs. Jackson— Jackson Elected President— His Opposition to 
the U. S. Bank— Defeats It— The Nullification Troubles— Firmness of 
President Jackson— Settlement of the Difficulty— Removal of the De- 
posits—Payment of the National Debt— Farewell Address— Jackson's 
Second Choice— Retires from Public Life— Personal Appearance— Death 
of General Jackson— His Epitaph. 



CONTENTS. XVn 

HENRY CLAY. 492 

Birth and Parentage — The Rev. Charles Clay — Henry Clay's First School — 
Becomes a Drug Clerk — Enters the Office of the Court of Chancery — 
Secretary of Chancellor Wythe — Admitted to the Bar — Emigrates to 
Kentucky — Rapid Success — Favors Emancipation — Defeats Aaron Burr 

Elected to the U. S. Senate — In the Kentucky Legislature — His First 

Duel Returns to the Senate — Elected to the House of Representatives — 

Speaker of the House — His Share in the Second War with England — 
Peace Commissioner — Returns to Congress — Becomes the Advocate of 
the National Bank — The Compensation Bill — Henry Clay and the Hun- 
ter The Champion of the " American System" — Secures the Success of 

the Missouri Compromise — Retires from Congress — Candidate for the 
Presidency — Secures the Election of J. Q. Adams — Is Made Secretary of 
State — Charges of "Bargain and Corruption" — Duel \i\\h Randolph — 
Hostility of President Jackson to Henry Clay — Clay Takes up the Chal- 
lenge — Returns to the Senate — Negotiates the Tariff Compromise of 
1833 — Moral Heroism of Henry Clay — Predicts the Panic of 1837 — De- 
nounces President Tyler's Vetoes — Opposes the Annexation of Texas — 
Defeated for the Presidency in 1844— Opposes the Mexican War — Death 
of Henry Clay, Jr. — Mr. Clay Joins the Church — Urges Emancipation 
upon the Kentucky Convention — Failure of His Health — Returns to the 
Senate — His Course in the Compromise of 1850 — A Patriot's Last Ser- 
vice — Declares Himself for the Union — His Last Speech — Death. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 516 

A New England Father— Childhood of Daniel Webster— His Early Schools 
— Intended for a Schoolmaster — His Father Concludes to Send him 
to College — Preparation for College— A Student at Andover — Brother 
Ezekiel— A Devoted Family— Ezekiel goes to College— Daniel Web- 
ster as a School Master — Studies Law — Enters Mr. Gore's Office in 
Boston — A Narrow Escape — Admitted to the Bar — Death of Judge 
Webster — Daniel Webster Removes to Portsmouth — His Remarkable 
Success — Marries — Elected to Congress — Takes a Leading Position 
in the House — His First Speech — Judge Marshall's Opinion of It — 
Career in Congress — Retires from Congress — Mr. Webster Removes to 
Boston — His Success as a Lawyer — The Dartmouth College Case — The 
Great Steamboat Monopoly Destroyed— Mr. Webster's Reputation as a 
Constitutional Lawyer — Wins Fame and Prosperity — His National Ora- 
tions—Returns to Congress — Supports John Q. Adams — Elected to the 
U. S. Senate— Advocates the Protective Policy— Mr. Foote's Resolution 
— Great Debate in the Senate between Webster and Hayne — Triumph of 
Mr. Webster — Oppose the Compromise of 1833 — Opposes the Sub-Trea- 
sury Scheme— Appointed Secretary of State in Mr. Tyler's Cabinet — 
Settles the Disputes with England — Withdraws from the Cabinet — Re- 
turns to the Senate — Opposes the Mexican War — Advocates the Com- 
2 



Xviii CONTENTS. 

promise Measures of 1850— Fails to Receive the Whig Nomination for 

the Presidency Personal Appearance — Characteristic Anecdotes — Last 

Years and Death— His Funeral. 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 54i 

The Calhoun Family— Settlement in South Carolina— Patrick Calhoun— Birth 
of John C. Calhoun— Childhood and Early Life— Enters Dr. Waddell's 
Academy— At Yale College— Studies Law— Returns to South Carolina— 
His First Public Appearance— Admitted to the Bar— Elected to the Leg- 
islature—Elected to Congress— His Marriage— Mr. Calhoun in the House 
of Representatives— His Success— Chairman of the Committee of Foreign 
Affairs— Supports the War with Great Britain— Opposes the National 
Bank Scheme in 1 814— Fortunate Prediction— Supports the Bank and 
Tariff of 181 6— Reports a General Plan for Internal Improvements— It is 
Vetoed by the President— Enters the Cabinet of President Monroe— His 
Course as Secretary of War— Favors the Missouri Compromise— Elected 
Vice President of the United States— Reelected on the Ticket with Gen- 
eral Jackson— Becomes the Advocate of Free Trade— Proposes Nullifica- 
tion—The South Carolina Exposition— Inconsistency of his Position- 
Quarrel Between Calhoun and Jackson— Resigns the Vice Presidency and 
Returns to the Senate— The Nullification Troubles— Calhoun Supports 
Mr. Clay's Compromise— Miss Martineau's Opinion of Mr. Calhoun— 
He Acts with the Whig Party in Opposition to the Administration- 
Wishes to Exclude Anti-Slavery Publications from the Mails— Supports 
the Sub-Treasury— Denounced by the Whigs— Alone in the Senate— His 
Defiance of his Enemies— Defends Tyler's Vetoes— Appointed Secretary 
of State— Secures the Annexation of Texas— Opposes the Mexican War 
—Failure of his Health— Last Appearance in the Senate— His Death- 
Tribute to his Memory by Daniel Webster. 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 562 

The First Commodore Decatur— Birth of Stephen Decatur— Enters the Navy 
Rapid Promotion— Services in the Mediterranean — Loss of the Phila- 
delphia—The Plan to Burn Her— Decatur Entrusted with the Attempt 
—Departure of the Expedition— The Intrepid— Burning of the Philadel- 
phia—Brilliant Success of the Enterprise— Attack on the Tripolitan Gun- 
boats—Heroism of Decatur— He makes Two Prizes— Promoted to a 
Captaincy— Returns to America— The War of 181 2-1 5— Appointed to 
Command the Frigate United States— Captures the Macedonian— Block- 
aded in New London— Appointed to the President— Sails from New York 
—Capture of the President— Humbles the Barbary Powers— Decisive 
Conduct— Duel with Commodore Barron— Death of Decatur. 



CONTENTS. Xix 

WINFIELD SCOTT. 575 

Ancestry — Birth and Childhood — Studies Law — Becomes a Volunteer — Ad- 
mitted to the Bar — Visits South Carolina — Obtains a Commission in the 
Army — Captain of Artillery — Court-martialed — Suspended — Appointed 
Aide-de-camp to General Hampton — Promoted to the Rank of Lieuten- 
ant-colonel — Battle of Queenstown — A Prisoner of War — Exchanged — 
Colonel and Adjutant-General — Capture of Fort George — Brigadier-Gen- 
eral — Disciplines the Army — Battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane — 
Scott Wounded — A Major-General — Visits Europe — Military Institutes 
and Tactics — The Black Hawk War — Ordered to Charleston During the 
Nullification Troubles — The Creek War— Scott Persecuted by President 
Jackson — His Acquittal — Settles the Troubles on the Canada Border — 
Commanding General of the Army — The Mexican War — The Expedition 
to Vera Cruz — Reduction of Vera Cruz — Battle of Cerro Gordo — The 
Halt at Puebla — Difficulty with Mr. Trist — Advance upon Mexico — Bat- 
tles of Contreras and Churubusco — Capture of Molino del Rey and Cha- 
pultepec — Capture of the City of Mexico — Scott Relieved of his Command 
— A Political Persecution — Return of Scott to the United States — His 
Reception at New York — Made Lieutenant-General — Nominated for the 
Presidency — Secession of the Southern States — Scott Adheres to the 
Union — His Plan for Defeating Secession — Resigns the Command of the 
Army — Last Years and Death. 



HORACE GREELEY. 596 

Birth and Early Life — A Poor Boy's Childhood — Early Education — Becomes 
a Printer — Experience as a Journeyman — Arrival in New York — Obtains 
Work — Sets up in Business for Himself — The New Yorker — Edits The 
yeffersonian — Publishes The Log Cabin — Its Remarkable Success — 
Founds The New York Tribune — Early Struggles and Success of the 
Paper — Forms a Partnership with Tiiomas McElrath — Aspirations of 
Mr. Greeley as a Journalist — Elected to Congress — Literary Labors — 
His Visits to Europe — The Tribune Becomes an Independent Journal — 
Its Great Influence — The Chicago Convention — Horace Greeley Secures 
the Nomination of Abraham Lincoln — His Support of the War — Favors 
Kind Measures Towards the South at the Close of the War — Becomes 
Surety for Jeff. Davis — Personal Traits — Opposes Grant's Administration 
— The Liberal Republican Movement — Greeley Nominated for the Presi- 
dency — Death of His Wife — He Becomes Insane — His Death. 



WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD. 608 

Birth — Education — Studies Law — Admitted to the Bar — Removes to Auburn 
— Marriage — Rapid Success — Engages in Politics — Opposes the Albany 



XX CONTENTS. 

Regency— He is Elected to the State Senate— Visits Europe— Joins the 
Whig Party— Elected Governor of New York— Refuses to Surrender 
Negro Sailors to Virginia and Georgia— The Case of Alexander McLeod 
—Firmness of Governor Seward— Resumes His Practice of Law— Great 
Success— Generous Defense of an Insane Negro— Elected to the United 
States Senate— Opposition to Slavery— His " Higher Law Doctrine"— 
His Position in the Senate — Supports Fremont and Dayton for the Presi- 
dency—Opposes the Efforts to Force Slavery upon Kansas— Services in 

the Senate — Proclaims the « Irrepressible Conflict" — Visits Europe De- 

feateil in the Chicago Convention— Supports Mr. Lincoln— Appointed 
Secretary of State— His Services in the Cabinet— Accident to Mr. 
Seward— Attempt to Assassinate Him— His Recovery— Sustains the 
" Policy" of President Johnson— Retires from Public Life— Travels 
Around the World — Death of Mr. Seward. 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 620 

Ancestry— Birth— Death of His Father— Goes to Ohio— Enters the Family of 
Bishop Chase— Earns His Living— Success at School— Returns to New 
Hampshire— Graduates at Dartmouth College— Goes to Washington— 
His School— Studies Law— Admitted to the Bar— Removes to Cincinnati 
—The "Statutes of Ohio"— Professional Success— Anti-Slavery Senti- 
ments—Courageous Defense of James G. Birney— Defense of Fugitive 
Slaves— Organizes the Anti-Slavery Party of Ohio— Delegate to the Lib- 
eral Convention— Intentions with Respect to Slavery— Acts with the 
Ohio Democracy— Elected to the United States Senate— Opposes the 
Compromise Measures of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Bill— Services 
in the Senate— Breaks with the Ohio Democracy— Elected Governor of 
Ohio— Course as Governor— Reelected to the U. S. Senate— Supports Mr. 
Lincoln— His Speech in the Peace Congress— Appointed Secretary of the 
Treasury— Successful Negotiation of Loans— Mr. Chase's Great .Ser- 
vices as Finance Minister— Resigns His Secretaryship— Appointed Chief 
Justice— His Career as Chief Justice— Last Years— Death. 



CHARLES SUMNER. 6^6 

Birth— Education— A Brilliant Young Manhood— Literary Labors— Enviable 
Reputation of Mr. Sumner— Admitted to the Bar— Lecturer to the Law 
School— Opinion of Judge Story— Visits Europe— Flattering Reception 
Abroad— Returns Home and Resumes His Practice— Vesey's Reports- 
Public Addresses— Becomes a Leader of the Anti-Slavery Party— Elected 
to the U. S. Senate— His Course in the Senate— Opposes the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill— Denounces the Effort to Force Slaveiy upon Kansas- 
Attack on Mr. Sumner by Preston S. Brooks— He is Injured for Life- 
Goes Abroad— Recovers His Health— Returns to the Senate— Sustains 



CONTENTS. XXI 

Mr. Lincoln in His War Measures — Appointed Chairman of the Com- 
mittee of Foreign Relations — Opposes Grant's St. Domingo Scheme — 
Removed from His Chairmanship of the Foreign Committee — Speech on 
the Alabama Claims — Opposes the Administration of President Grant — 
His Health Gives Way — His Resolution Against Continuing the Memo- 
ries of the Civil War — Censured by the Massachusetts Legislature — His 
Vindication — Failure of His Health — Last Sickness and Death. 



GEORGE HENRY THOMAS. 645 

Birth — Educated at West Point — Enters the Army — Promoted for Services in 
the Mexican War — A Professor at West Point — The Secession Troubles 
— Thomas Adheres to the Union — Brigadier-General — Ordered to Ken- 
tucky — Battle of Mill Spring — Major-General of Volunteers — Declines 
the Command of the Army of the Ohio — Conduct at Stone River — Battle 
of Chickamauga — Splendid Fighting of Thomas's Corps — The Second 
Day's Battle — Thomas Forced Back — Takes up a New Position — Saves 
the Army by His Firmness — Brigadier-General in the Regular Army — 
Commands the Army of the Cumberland — The Battle of Mission Ridge 
— The Campaign under Sherman — The Capture of Atlanta — Hood Ad- 
vances into Alabama — Thomas sent to Nashville — Hood begins His 
March into Tennessee — Battle of Franklin-:-Siege of Nashville — Defeat 
of Hood's Army — Thomas made a Major-General in the Regular Army 
of the United States — Close of the War — Last Years and Death. 



DAVID GLASGOE FARRAGUT. 659 

Parentage— Birth— Enters the Navy— His First Cruise— With Commodore 
Porter in the Essex— Farragut's First Battle— Cruise of the Essex in the 
Pacific — Cupture of the Essex — Farragut Wounded — A Young Hero — 
His Career After the War— A Captain— The Civil War— Farragut Ad- 
heres to the Union— Leaves the South— The Expedition Against New 
Orleans — Farragut in Command — Bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. 
Philip— Passage of the Forts— Defeat of the Confederate Fleet— Capture 
of New Orleans — Attack on Vicksburg — Running the Batteries of Pbrt 
Hudson — Farragut made Rear-Admiral — Expedition Against Mobile — 
Battle of Mobile Bay — The Admiral in the Shrouds — Obtains Leave of 
Absence — Reception at New York — Made Vice-Admiral — Close of tke 
War — Made Admiral — European Cruise — Death. 



ROBERT E. LEE. 672 

Parentage — "Light-Horse Harry" — Birth — Educated at West Point— Mar- 
riage — Promotion— Mexican War — Chief Engineer to Scott— Gallantry 



XXll CONTENTS. 

at Ceiro Gordo, Contreras and Churubusco — " Lee is the Greatest Mili- 
tary Genius in America" — Superintendent of West Point — Fights the In- 
dians in Texas — Captures John Brown at Harper's Ferry — Breaking Out 
of the Civil War — Lee Goes with his Native State — Is Appointed a Gen- 
eral in the Confederate Army — West Virginia Campaign — Becomes Com- 
mander of the Army of Northern Virginia — Attacks McClellan on the 
Chickahominy — The " Seven Days' Battles" — Cold Harbor — Malvern 
Hill — Moves to the Rappahannock, and Defeats Pope at Second Bull 
Run — Invades Maryland — Battle of South Mountain — Capture of Har- 
per's Ferry — Battle of Antietam — Fredericksburg — Chancellorsville — In- 
vasion of Pennsylvania — Repulsed at Gettysburg, and Retreats to the 
Rapidan — Grant Takes Command of the Army of the Potomac — " The 
Wilderness " — Spottsylvania Court House — Seige of Petersburg — Evac- 
uation of Petersburg and Richmond — Surrender at Appomattox — Lee 
Counsels Submission — Accepts the Presidency of Washington College at 
Lexington, Va. — Testifies before Reconstruction Committee — His Last 
Hours and Death. 



■'-^ THOMAS J. JACKSON. 688 

Parentage — Birth — Death of his Parents — Applies for a Vacancy at West 
Point and Succeeds — Graduates, and Enters the Mexican War — Promo- 
tion for Gallant Conduct — Impaired Health — Becomes a Professor in Vir- 
ginia Military Institute, at Lexington — Joins Presbyterian Church — Mar- 
riage — Remarkable Memory— Opening of the Civil War — Offers his 
Services to the Governor of Virginia — Harper's Ferry — Martinsburg — 
Falling Waters — Bull Run — " There is Jackson Standing Like a Stone 
Wall" — In the Valley — Defeats Milroy and Banks — Defeats Shields at 
Port Republic — Cold Harbor, White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill — 
Second Bull Run — Harper's Ferry — Antietam — Fredericksburg — Prayer 
During the Battle — Chancellorsville — Jackson's Flank Movement — Fired 
Upon by his Own Troops and Severely Wounded — Amputation of his 
Arm — Attacked with Pneumonia — Last Hours and Death. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 704 

Parentage — Thomas Lincoln — Birth of Abraham Lincoln — Childhood — Re- 
moval to Indiana — Death of his Mother — Abe Goes to School — Learns to 
Read — Becomes a Flat-boat Hand — Voyage to New Orleans — Removal 
to Illinois — Lincoln Becomes a Storekeeper — " Honest Abe" — The Black 
Hawk War — Elected to the Legislature — Studies Law — Admitted to the 
Bar — His First Five Hundred Dollars — What he Did with It — Engages 
in Politics — Elected to Congress — Career in Congress — Marriage — Do- 
mestic Life — Joins the Republican Party — Declines the U. S. Senatorship 
— Great Debate with Judge Douglas — Lincoln is Nommated for the 



CONTENTS. XXm 

Presidency — Interview with the Committee — Elected President — Seces- 
sion of the Southern States — Letter to Mr. Stephens — ^Journey to Wash- 
ington — Inauguration — The Civil War — Mr. Lincoln's Course as President 
— The Emancipation Proclamation — Speech at the Dedication of the Get- 
tysburg Cemetery — Offers Pardon to the Southern People — Reelection to 
the Presidency — The Second Inauguration — A Striking Scene — Close of 
the War — Assassination of President Lincoln — His Death — The Funeral 
Journey — Burial. 




A POPULAR BOOK 

OF 

American Biography. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

FIRST PRESIDKNT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

THE Washington family is of ancient English descent, and 
appears, during the century immediately following the 
Norman Conquest, in possession of " landed estates and man- 
orial privileges" in the County of Durham, estates and privi- 
leges which were held at that time only by those who had 
come over from Normandy with William the Conqueror, or 
by their descendants. When William divided among his fol- 
lowers the lands north of the Humber, which he had ravaged 
with fire and sword in punishment of the last effort of the 
Northumbrians to maintain their freedom, he erected the Dio- 
cese of Durham into a Palatinate, and placed over it a learned 
Norman noble as Bishop and Count Palatine, thus giving him 
temporal as well as spiritual jurisdiction over the province. 
The bishop lived in a state of splendor which rivalled that of 
the King, to whom alone he owed allegiance. He kept a bril- 
liant court, and was more a warrior than a priest, having for 
his vassals the landed gentry of the diocese, who were bound 
by their feudal oaths to rally to his side whenever he displayed 
the great banner of St. Cuthbert, the patron saint of the 
diocese. 

Among the knights holding estates in the Palatinate by 
feudal tenure, was William de Hertburn, the ancestor of the 

(25) 



26 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Washingtons, a Norman by descent, who took his surname of 
De Hertburn from the village of that name, which he held of 
the bishop in knight's fee, it being the custom of that day for 
Norman families of rank to take their names from their estates. 
We find from an entry in the " Bolden Book," a record of the 
lands of the diocese, made in 1 183, that William de Hertburn 
had, some time previous to this, exchanged his village of De 
Hertburn for the manor and village of Wessyngton, also in the 
diocese of Durham, which he also held of the Bishop in feudal 
tenure. With this change of estate, the family also changed 
its name, and thenceforward took that of De Wessyngton. 
The family continued to hold an honorable and prominent 
position in the Palatinate, being noted among other things for 
its martial tendencies, to which the almost constantly hostile 
condition of affairs on the Scotch border gave ample opportu- 
nity for indulgence. It also won credit in the wars of the barons ; 
and among the knights who took part under the royal standard 
in the disastrous battle of Lewes was "William Weshington 
of Weshington." At a tournament held at Dunstable in 1334, 
in the reign of Edward HI., among the "noble knights" en- 
gaged, we find the name of "Sir Stephen de Wessyngton," 
who also bore himself gallantly in the battle of Nevil's Cross, 
near Durham, in which King David of Scotland was made 
prisoner. "Sir William de Weschington," who succeeded to 
the estate in 1 367, was the last of the male line. At his death 
the estate passed out of the family by the marriage of his only 
daughter and heir, Dionisia, with Sir William Temple, of 
Studley. By the year 1400, the manor was in the hands of the 
Blaykeston family. 

Though no longer in possession of the old estate, the family 
name was well maintained by John de Wessyngton, the prior 
of the Benedictine convent of Durham, who stoutly upheld 
against the bishop and the secular clergy the claims of his 
order, one of which was that the prior of Durham should en- 
joy all the liberties, rights, and honors of a mitred abbot, and 
should take rank next to the bishop. The prior carried his 
cause to a triumphant issue, and won for himself one of the 
most noted names in Durham. 

In the course of time the family became scattered in various 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 2/ 

parts of England, and their name underwent several changes, 
dropping the title of de, and varying from Wessyngton to 
Wassington, Wasshington, and finally to Washington. 

At the head of one of these branches was John Washington, 
of Warton, in Lancashire. His son Lawrence Washington, of 
Gray's Inn, was for some years Mayor of Northampton, and 
upon the dissolution of the monasteries was given by Henry 
VIIL the Manor of Sulgrave, in Northamptonshire, together 
with other confiscated lands that had formerly belonged to the 
Monastery of St. Andrews. This manor remained in the family 
until 1620. One of the descendants of Lawrence Washington 
was Sir William Washington, of Packington, in the County of 
Kent, who married a sister of the Duke of Buckingham, the 
ill-starred favorite of Charles L The Washingtons fought loy- 
ally for the King in the Civil War ; one of them, Lieut. Col. 
James Washington, was killed under the royal standard at the 
siege of Pontefract Castle; and another. Sir Henry, the son and 
heir of Sir William Washington, already mentioned, served 
with great credit under Prince Rupert, and by his efforts brought 
the storming of Bristol, in 1643, to a triumphant issue. Being 
placed in command of Worcester, in 1646, he held it against 
the Parliamentary army until ordered by the King to surrender. 
His gallant defense soon won him honorable terms from the 
besiegers. In 1655, a general insurrection was attempted by the 
partisans of the Stuarts. It failed, and left them at the mercy 
of Cromwell. Many of the Royalists fled to America, and 
found congenial homes in the "loyal colony" of Virginia. 
Among these were John and Andrew Washington, uncles of 
the gallant Sir Henry, and great-grandsons of the grantee of 
Sulgrave. They reached Virginia in 1657, and purchasing 
lands in the " Northern Neck," between the Potomac and Rap- 
pahannock rivers, established their home in that fertile and de- 
lightful region. John became an extensive planter, and marry- 
ing Miss Anne Pope, of the same county, built him a residence 
near the junction of Bridges Creek with the Potomac river. 
He took a prominent part in the affairs of the colony, and was 
a magistrate and a member of the House of Burgesses. In 
1675, war having broken out with the Indians on the borders 
of Virginia and Maryland, Colonel John Washington crossed 



28 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the Potomac at the head of a body of Virginia troops, to help 
the people of Maryland against the savages. 

The family continued to hold the estate on Bridges Creek, 
and there was born in 1694 Augustine Washington, the grand- 
son of Col. John Washington. He was a man of strong, earnest 
character, noble qualities, and engaging disposition. " One 
who knew him personally has described him as a man of un- 
common height, noble appearance, manly proportions and 
extraordinary muscular powers. * * * Yet this gigantic 
might of muscle never tempted him to take any part in the 
frequent combats which occurred in Virginia in his day, except 
to stay savage violence by separating combatants. And such 
was his character for magnanimity, justice, and moral worth, 
that he commanded wherever he appeared, and in whatever he 
engaged, universal and unhesitating deference." 

Augustine Washington was twice married. On the 20th of 
April, 17 1 5, he married Jane, the daughter of Caleb Butler, 
Esq., of Westmoreland, by whom he had four children. But 
two of these, Lawrence and Augustine, lived to manhood. 
Their mother died on the 24th of November, 1728. On the 
6th of March, 1730, Mr. Washington was married to his second 
wife, Mary, the daughter of Colonel Ball, a young and beauti- 
ful girl, " the belle of the Northern Neck." She bore him four 
sons, George, Samuel, John Augustine and Charles, and two 
daughters, Elizabeth and Mildred, the latter of whom died in 
infancy. 

George Washington, the eldest son by the second marriage, 
was born at the family homestead on Bridges Creek, on the 
22d of February, 1732. Scarcely a vestige of the house remains 
to-day. A ruined chimney, a few decayed fruit trees, and a 
stone inscribed with an appropriate legend, mark the spot, which 
has long since relapsed into its native solitude. 

When George was about seven years old, his father removed 
from the old homestead on Bridges Creek to an estate in Staf- 
ford county, opposite the town of Fredericksburg. The loca- 
tion was delightful, lying in the midst of a region noted for its 
fertility and healthfulnes, and abounding in the loveliest scenery. 
The house stood on a rising ground, overlooking the river and 
surrounding country for a long distance, with the land sloping 



GBORGE WASHINGTON. 29 

from it to the Rappahannock. Here the subject of this memoir 
passed his boyhood. 

Although a man of means, Augustine Washington was not 
able to give to all of his sons the advantages of education en- 
joyed by Lawrence, the eldest. In accordance with the custom 
of the day, he sent Lawrence to England at the age of fifteen, 
to complete his education. The young man returned home at 
the age of twenty-two or three, regarded by all, and regarding 
himself, as the future head of the family. Inheriting a share of 
the old martial spirit of the family, Lawrence obtained a cap- 
tain's commission in a regiment raised in the colonies for ser- 
vice against the Spaniards in the West Indies, and sailed with 
it for that region in 1740. He served in the joint expedition 
commanded by Admiral Vernon and General Wentworth, and 
won the friendship and confidence of both of these officers. He 
was present at the gallant but unsuccessful attack upon Cartha- 
gena, and returned home in the autumn of 1742, after the close 
of the expedition. In the summer of 1743 he married Anne, 
the eldest daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, of Fairfax 
County. 

In the meantime the education of George was of the simplest 
character, and was conducted at a country school. He was 
quick to learn, and rapidly acquired all the knowledge it was 
in the power of his instructor to impart. The letters of his 
brother Lawrence inflamed his imagination with descriptions of 
the stirring scenes through which the latter was passing, and 
evidently gave to his boyish sports the martial character which 
distinguished them. " He made soldiers of his schoolmates ; 
they had their mimic parades, reviews, and sham fights; a boy 
named William Bustle was sometimes his competitor, but 
George was commander-in-chief of Hobby's school." 

On the 1 2th of April, 1743, Augustine Washington died, 
leaving a large estate to be divided among his children. To 
Lawrence, the eldest, he left the estate on the banks of the 
Potomac, with other property; to Augustine, the second son, 
the old family homestead in Westmoreland. The children by , 
the second marriage were liberally provided for, and to George 
was left the house and farm on the Rappahannock where his 
boyhood was passed. He was to have possession of it upon 



30 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

coming of age. The marriage of Lawrence to Miss Fairfax 
took place after his father's death, and the young couple estab- 
lished their home upon the estate to which Lawrence succeeded, 
and which he named Mount Vernon, in honor of his friend the 
admiral. 

George remained with his widowed mother, who addressed 
herself bravely to the task of rearing her children and fitting 
them for the duties of life. Though deprived of the care of 
his father at such an early age, it was the good fortune of 
George Washington to possess in his mother a guide well 
qualified to fill the place of both parents to her fatherless chil- 
dren. She was a woman of rare good sense, of great decision 
of character, and one whose life was shaped by the most ear- 
nest Christian principle. Her tenderness and sweet womanly 
qualities won her the devoted love of her children, and her 
firmness enforced their obedience. From her George inherited 
a quick and ardent temper, and from her he learned the lessons 
of self-control which enabled him to govern it. He was also 
happy in the warm affection of his brother Lawrence, who 
directed his studies. Soon after his father's death George was 
sent to reside with his brother Augustine at the old family 
homestead on Bridges Creek, while he attended an academy in 
the neighborhood, kept by a Mr. Williams. It was the object 
of his family to fit him for the ordinary business of life, and his 
education was plain and practical. 

As a boy, Washington was noted for his truthfulness, his 
courage and his generosity. He was both liked and respected 
by his schoolmates, and such was their confidence in his fair- 
ness and good judgment that he was usually chosen the arbiter 
of their boyish disputes. He joined heartily in their sports, 
and was noted for his skill in athletic exercises. He was a 
fearless rider and a good hunter, and by his fondness for manly 
sports developed in his naturally vigorous system a remarkable 
degree of strength. He was cheerful and genial in disposition, 
though reserved and grave in manner. He early acquired 
habits of scrupulous industry and order. " Before he was thir- 
teen years of age," says Irving, "he had copied into a volume 
forms for all kinds of mercantile and legal papers; bills of ex- 
change, notes of hand, deeds, bonds and the like. This early 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 3 I 

self-tuition gave him throughout life a lawyer's skill in drafting 
documents, and a merchant's exactness in keeping accounts; 
so that all the concerns of his various estates; his dealings with 
his domestic stewards and foreign agents; his accounts with 
government, and all his financial transactions, are to this day to 
be seen posted up in books, in his own handwriting, monu- 
ments of his method and unwearied accuracy." 

At the age of fourteen it was decided that he should enter 
the navy, and his brother Lawrence readily obtained for him a 
midshipman's warrant. The ship he was to join lay in the 
Potomac, and his trunk was sent on board; but at the last mo- 
ment his mother, dreading the effect of a seaman's life upon a 
boy so young, appealed to him by his affection for her, to re- 
main with her. Washington was sorely disappointed, but he 
yielded cheerfully to his mother's wish. 

The marriage of his brother Lawrence gave to the young 
man a second home at Mount Vernon, where he passed a large 
part of his time. There he was brought into constant and 
familiar intercourse with the most refined and cultivated society 
of Virginia, an association which had a happy influence upon 
the formation of his character. There also he formed the 
acquaintance of Lord Fairfax, the grandson of Lord Culpepper, 
and the inheritor of Culpepper's vast estates in Virginia, which 
comprised about one-seventh of the area of the State of Virginia, 
as it existed prior to the separation of the western counties in 
1 86 1 . Lord Fairfax conceived a warm friendship for the young 
man, and took a deep interest in his future welfare. Upon 
leaving school Washington had chosen the profession of a sur- 
veyor as his future avocation, and Lord Fairfax soon gave him 
his first employment. His lordship had come to Virginia to 
reside upon his estates, and he found them unsurveyed, and in 
many cases occupied by persons who had settled on them with- 
out permission from him or any of his predecessors. He de- 
termined to arrange his affairs on a more systematic footing, 
and therefore employed Washington to survey his lands and 
lay them off with regularity. It was an arduous and responsi- 
ble task, and Washington, who was just entering his seven- 
teenth year, seemed scarcely old enough for it; but "Lord 
Thomas" had satisfied himself of his young friend's capacity for 



32 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the undertaking, and the result justified the opinion he had 
formed. The work was done with care and accuracy, and the 
measurements of the young surveyor were so exact that they 
are still relied upon with implicit confidence in the region in 
which they were made. So satisfactory was his work that he 
was appointed, doubtless through the influence of Lord Fair- 
fax, public surveyor, in which capacity he continued three 
years. He was constantly engaged in the duties of his office, 
which, owing to the limited number of public surveyors and 
the great quantity of land to be surveyed, proved extremely 
profitable. 

His life as a surveyor was in many respects a hard one, but 
he enjoyed it. It gave new vigor to his naturally robust con- 
stitution, developed his splendid figure, so that while yet a 
youth he acquired the appearance and habits of mature man- 
hood. He also learned forest life in all its various phases, and 
by his constant intercourse with the hunters and Indians gained 
an intimate knowledge of the character and habits of these 
wild men, which in after years was of infinite value to him. 

Though the heir to a considerable estate, Washington sup- 
ported himself during this period by his earnings as a sur- 
veyor. As yet he had derived no benefit from his landed 
property, into the possession of which he was not to enter until 
he had attained his majority. His habits of life were simple 
and economical, and he indulged in no riotous or expensive 
pleasures. 

During his surv^eying expeditions, Washington was a fre- 
quent visitor at Greenway Court, the seat of Lord Fairfax, 
situated in the Valley of Virginia, near Winchester. In addi- 
tion to the other attractions of the place, there was a well- 
selected library, of which the young man regularly availed 
himself His reading was of a solid and useful character; 
"Addison's Spectator," and the " History of England," were 
among his favorite works. There was also a strong bond of 
union between " Lord Thomas" and his young friend in their 
ardent love for the chase, and much of Washington's leisure 
time was passed in following the hounds in the company of the 
master of Greenway Court. Lord Fairfax was a man of fine 
education and scholarly tastes, and had mingled with the most 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 33 

brilliant men of Europe. His conversation, was, therefore, full 
of interest and instruction to Washington. 

While Washington was employed in his surveys, the rival 
claims of England and France to the Valley of the Ohio had 
brought those powers to the verge of a war for its possession. 
The French trusted to their superior promptness in seizing the 
region in dispute, and prepared to occupy it with a chain of 
forts extending; from the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Ohio. 
English traders in the meantime crossed the mountains and 
established themselves in the Ohio Valley, and Christopher 
Gist, an intrepid trader, explored the entire region by order of 
the Colonial Government of Virginia, and returned with such 
flattering reports of it that the Governor and Council were 
convinced that the country was worth fighting for. An asso- 
ciation was chartered in 1749 by the name of the " Ohio Com- 
pany," for the purpose of colonizing the lands west of the moun- 
tains, and the Governor of Virginia was ordered by the King 
to assign to this company a tract of five hundred thousand 
acres of land, lying between the Monongahela and Kanawha 
rivers and along the Ohio. 

In order to supply the traders who had established them- 
selves beyond the mountains with the articles needed for their 
traffic with the Indians, the Ohio Company built a trading post 
at Wills' Creek, within the limits of Maryland, on the site of 
the present city of Cumberland. Here one of the easiest of 
the passes through the Alleghanies begins. By means of it 
the traders could readily transport their goods west of the 
mountains, and return with the furs their wares had purchased 
from the savages. The post at Wills' Creek became a base 
from which operations were pushed steadily into the Ohio 
Valley. 

The French were fully aware of the purposes of the English, 
and viewed them with alarm, as the successful occupation of 
the Ohio Valley by the latter would cut off the communication 
established by the French between Canada and the Mississippi, 
a communication essential to the integrity of their possessions 
in America. They, therefore, strengthened their hold upon the 
lakes, and prepared to occupy the Ohio Valley with a line of 

forts. Three of these were at ©nee erected — one at Presque 
3 



34 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Isle, now Erie, in Pennsylvania; another on French Creek, on 
the site of the present town of Waterford; and a third on the 
site of the present town of Franklin, at the junction of French 
Creek with the Alleghany. 

The government of Virginia had kept a vigilant eye upon 
the measures of the French; and in 1751, before the erection of 
the forts alluded to above, in order to prepare for any emer- 
gency to which the hostility of the French and Indians, the 
latter of whom were being incited against the English by the 
French, might give rise, divided the Colony into militar)^ dis- 
tricts. Each district was placed in charge of an adjutant and 
inspector, with the rank of major, whose duty it was to keep 
the militia in readiness for instant service. Washington's boy- 
ish fondness for military sports had not left him, but had grown 
with his growth. As he advanced towards manhood, his 
brother Lawrence, Adjutant Muse, of Westmoreland, and 
Jacob Vanbraam, a fencing master, and others, had given him 
numerous lessons in the art of war and in the use of the sword. 
He was now nineteen years old, and though so young, was 
regarded by his acquaintance as one of the best informed per- 
sons upon military matters in the Colony. At their earnest 
desire he was commissioned a major in the Colonial forces, and 
given the command of one of the military districts. He 
exerted himself with such zeal and success to prepare the mili- 
tia for service, that when the province was divided into four 
militaiy districts by Governor Dinwiddie in 1 75 2, Major Wash- 
ington was placed in command of the northern district. "The 
counties comprehended in this division he promptly and statedly 
traversed, and he soon effected the thorough discipline of their 
militia for warlike purposes." 

While holding this appointment Washington accompanied 
his brother Lawrence on a voyage to the West Indies, the deli- 
cate health of the latter rendering such a change necessary to 
him. They passed the winter of 1757 at Barbadoes, where 
they were the constant recipients of the hospitalities of the 
principal inhabitants and the officers of the garrison. George 
was seized with a severe attack of small-pox soon after his arri 
val, but recovered after an illness of about three weeks. Early 
in 1752, he was sent home by Lawrence to bring Mrs. Wash- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 35 

ington out to Barbadoes. Before this could be done, however, 
Lawrence, despairing of recovery, returned to Virginia to die. 
He expired at Mount Vernon on the 26th of July, 1752, at the 
early age of thirty-four. By the terms of his will Mount 
Vernon and his other property were, in case his infant daughter 
should die without issue, to be held by his widow during her 
lifetime, and at her death to pass to his brother George. The 
management of all the affairs of Lawrence was entrusted by his 
widow to George, and this sacred duty was discharged with 
characteristic skill and faithfulness. In the course of a few 
years the death of his infant niece placed him in possession of 
his brother's estate. 

In the meantime, the rapid advancement of the French to 
the eastward alarmed the English Government, which instructed 
the Governor of Virginia to address a remonstrance to the 
French authorities, and warn them of the consequences which 
must result from their intrusion into the territory of Great 
Britain. To do this it was necessary for the Governor to 
despatch his communication to the nearest French post by the 
hands of some messenger of sufficient resolution to overcome 
the natural dangers of the undertaking, and of intelligence 
enough to collect information respecting the strength and 
designs of the French. Washington was recommended to the 
Governor as the person best qualified for this difficult mission, 
and although he was not yet twenty-two years old, the Gov- 
ernor decided to entrust him with it. 

Governor Dinwiddle gave to his 3/oung envoy a letter ad- 
dressed to the commander of the French forces on the Ohio, 
in which he demanded of him his reasons for invading the 
territory of England while Great Britain and France were at 
peace with each other. Washington was instructed to observe 
carefully the numbers and positions of the French, the strength 
of their forts, the nature of their communications with Canada 
and with their various posts, and to endeavor to ascertain the 
real designs of the French in occupying the Ohio Valley, the 
probability of their being vigorously supported from Canada, 
and the extent to which their efforts to array the Indian tribes 
against the English had been carried. " Ye're a braw lad," 
said the Governor, as he delivered his instructions to the young 



36 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

major, "and gin ye play your cards weel, my boy, ye shall hae 
nae cause to rue your bargain." 

Washington received his instructions on the 30th of October, 
1753, and on the same day set out for Winchester, then a fron- 
tier post, from which he proceeded to Wills' Creek, where he 
was to cross the mountains. Having secured the services of 
Christopher Gist as guide, and of two interpreters and four 
others, W^ashington left Wills' Creek about the middle of No- 
vember. They crossed the mountains and journeyed through 
an unbroken country in which the Indian trails we're the only 
paths, across rugged ravines, over steep hills, and across streams 
swollen with recent heavy rains, until in nine days they reached 
the point where the Alleghany and Monongahela unite and 
form the Ohio. Washington carefully examined the place, 
and was greatly impressed with the advantages offered for the 
location of a fort by the point of land at the junction of the two 
rivers. The judgment expressed by him at the time was sub- 
sequently confirmed by the choice of the spot by the French 
for one of their most important posts — Fort Duquesne. 

In accordance with his instructions, Washington proceeded 
to Logstown, where he was to meet the Delaware chiefs in 
council, to acquaint them with the nature of his mission, and 
to ascertain their disposition towards the English. He reached 
this place on the 24th of November, but found Tanacharisson, 
or the Half King, as he was more commonly called, absent on 
a hunting expedition. Runners were despatched for him, and 
also to summon the neighboring chiefs to the council. While 
awaiting their arrival, Washington met several deserters from 
the French posts on the lower Ohio, who had just come in, 
and from them learned the number, location, and strength of 
the French posts between Quebec and New Orleans, by way of 
the Wabash and the Maumee. They informed him of the in- 
tention of the French to occupy the Ohio from its head to its 
mouth with a similar chain efforts. The Half King upon his 
arrival confirmed the report of the deserters. He had heard 
that the French were coming with a strong force to drive the 
English out of the land. 

On the 26th a "grand talk" was had with the chiefs in coun- 
cil by Washington, who informed them of the nature of his 



GEORGE WASHINGTON, 37 

mission, and that he was ordered by the Governor of Virginia 
to ask their advice and assistance, and some of their young 
men to accompny him as a protection on the way agamst the 
"French Indians," who had taken up the hatchet. The chiefs 
answered him through the Half King, that what he had said 
was true ; they were brothers, and would guard him on his 
way to the nearest French post. They wished neither the 
English nor the French to settle in their country; but as the 
French were the first intruders, they were willing to aid the 
English in their efforts to expel them. They agreed to break 
off friendly relations with the French; but Washington, who 
knew the Indian character well, was not altogether satisfied 
with their promises. 

He was detained several days at Logstown by the chiefs, and 
did not leave that place until the 30th of November. He was 
attended by the Half King and three other Indians, and on the 
4th of December reached the French fort at Venango. Cap- 
tain Joncaire, the officer in command of this fort, was without 
authority to receive the letter borne by Washington, and re- 
ferred him to the Chevalier St. Pierre, the commandant of the 
next post. In the meantime he treated the English with cour- 
tesy, and invited Washington to sup with him. When the 
wine was passed around the French officers drank deeply, and 
soon lost their discretion. The sober and vigilant Washington 
noted their words with great care, and recorded them in his 
diary. "They told me," he writes, "that it was their absolute 
design to take possession of the Ohio, and, by G — d, they 
would do it; for that, although they were sensible the English 
could raise two men to their one, they knew their motions 
were too slow and dilatory to prevent any undertaking of 
theirs." The French officers then informed Washington of 
their strength south of the lakes, and the number and location 
of their posts between Montreal and Venango. 

The French exerted every strategem to detach the Indians 
from Washington's party, and they met with enough success 
to justify his distrust of his savage allies. The latter had come 
to deliv^er up the French speech-belts, or, in other words, to 
break off friendly relations with the French. They wavered 
and failed to fulfil their promise, "but the Half King clung 



3^ AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

to Washington as a brother, and dehVered up his speech-belt, 
as he had promised." 

The party left Venango on the 7th of December, and reached 
Fort Le Boeuf, the next post, situated on French Creek, on the 
nth. having made the journey through snow, rain, mire and 
swamp. The fort was a strong work, defended by cannon ; and 
near by Washington saw a number of canoes and boats, and 
materials for building others— sure indications that an expedi- 
tion down the river was soon to be attempted. St. Pierre, "an 
ancient and silver-haired chevalier of the military order of St. 
Louis," the commander of the fort, was an officer of experience 
and integrity, and was greatly beloved as well as feared by the 
savage tribes of the neighboring country. He received the 
young envoy with stately courtesy, but refused to discuss ques- 
tions of right with him. "I am here," he said, "by the orders 
of my general, to which I shall conform with exactness and 
resolution." 

The envoy was detained four days at the fort, and in the 
meantime occupied himself in taking notes of the plan and 
dimensions of the fort and its means of defense, and in acquaint- 
mg himself with the designs of the French, which were unmis- 
takably hostile to the English in the Ohio Valley. On the 
14th, St. Pierre delivered to Washington a sealed reply to the 
letter of the Governor of Virginia, and on the i6th the party 
set out on its return. They descended French Creek in canoes, 
at considerable risk, as the stream was full of floating icei 
which constantly threatened to crush their frail vessels. Ve- 
nango was not reached until the 22d. There it was found that 
the horses were so feeble that it was doubtful whether they 
would be able to make the journey home. One of the Indians 
fell ill, and the others resolved to remain with him at Venango. 
The English accordingly set out for home without them, Wash- 
ington canying Mith him the assurance of the Half King that 
nothing should shake his friendship for the English, or make 
him the ally of the French. The party made slow 'progress. 
" I put myself in an Indian walking dress," says Washingtr n, 
" and continued with them three days, until I found there was 
no possibility of their getting home in any reasonable time. 
The horses became less able to travel every day ; the cold in- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 39 

creased very fast, and the roads were becoming much worse by 
a deep snow continually freezing ; therefore, as I was uneasy to 
get back to make report of proceedings to his honor the Gov- 
ernor, I determined to prosecute my journey the nearest way 
through the woods on foot." 

Taking Gist as his only companion, and directing their way 
by the compass, Washington set out on foot, on the 26th, by 
the nearest way across the country, for the head of the Ohio- 
The next day an Indian who had joined them at "Murdering 
Town," and had undertaken to guide them through the woods, 
suddenly wheeled upon Washington and fired at him at a dis- 
tance of but fifteen steps. He missed his aim, and was at once 
secured. Gist was anxious to kill the savage on the spot, but 
Washington would not allow this, and they kept the fellow 
until dark and then released him. Fearful that the Indian 
would set others on their trail, they waited until he was fairly 
out of sight, and then set off and traveled all night and all the 
next day, directing their course by the compass. 

At dark on the 28th they reached the banks of the Alle- 
ghany, which they had expected to find frozen over. It was 
full of floating ice, and they passed an anxious night on its 
banks. The next morning they set to work with one poor 
hatchet to construct a raft, their only means of reaching the 
opposite bank. They completed their raft about sunset, and 
launched it upon the stream. It was caught in the floating ice, 
and in the effort to free it Washington was hurled into the 
water and nearly drowned. Unable to reach the opposite 
shore, they made for an island in mid-stream, and passed the 
night there. The cold was intense, and Gist had all his fingers 
and all his toes frozen. The next morning the river was frozen 
over sufficiently hard to bear their weight. They at once 
crossed to the opposite bank, resumed their journey, and by 
nightfall were in comfortable quarters at the house of Frazier, 
an Indian trader, at the mouth of Turtle Creek, on the Monon- 
gahela. Continuing his journey from this point, Washington 
reached Williamsburg on the i6th of January, and reported to 
the Governor the result of his mission. 

" The prudence, sagacity, resolution, firmness, and self-devo- 
tion manifested by him throughout ; his admirable tact and 



40 AMERICAN BIOGIL\PHY. 

self-pcssession in treating with fickle savages and crafty white 
men ; the soldier's eye with which he had noticed the com- 
manding and defensible points of the country, and everything 
that would bear upon military operations ; and the hardihood 
with which he had acquitted himself during a wintry tramp 
through the wilderness, through constant storms of rain and 
snow — often sleeping on the ground without a tent in the open 
air, and in danger from treacherous foes — all pointed him out, 
not merely to the Governor, but to the public at large, as one 
eminently fitted, notwithstanding his youth, for important trusts 
involving civil as well as military duties. It is an expedition 
that may be considered the foundation of his fortunes. From 
that moment he was the rising hope of Virginia."* 

The French commander on the Ohio returned a courteous 
but evasive answer to Governor Dinwiddie's communication, 
and referred him for a definite settlement of the matter to the 
Marquis Duquesne, the Governor of Canada. It was clear from 
the tone of his letter that he meant to hold on to the territory 
he had occupied, and the Governor of Virginia was satisfied 
from Major Washington's report of his observations that St. 
Pierre was only waiting for the opening of navigation to extend 
the line of French posts down the Ohio. The authorities of 
Virginia resolved to anticipate him, and in the early spring of 
1/54 the Ohio Company sent a force of forty men to build a 
fort at the head of the Ohio, on the site to which Washington 
had called their attention. In order to arouse the nation to a 
sense of the danger which threatened it from the French move- 
ments, Washington's journal was printed and widely circulated 
throughout the Colonies and England. It was generally read, 
and won universal favor for its heroic young author. 

Measures were promptly taken in Virginia for the protection 
of the frontiers. A regiment of troops was ordered to be raised, 
and it was the general wish that Major Washington should be 
appointed to the command. He declined the commission ten- 
dered him, alleging his youth and inexperience; but accepted 
the post of lieutenant-colonel. The command of the regiment 
was conferred upon Colonel Joshua Fr}'. Washington was 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 4I 

ordered to repair to the west and take charge of the defense of 
the frontiers. He took the field promptly, and in April, 1754, 
reached Wills' Creek with three companies of his regiment. 
The rest of the command was to follow under Colonel Fry. 

Almost at the moment of his arrival at the fort at Wills' 
Creek, came the news that the party sent to build the fort at 
the head of the Ohio had been surrounded by a French force 
of one thousand men, with artillery, and compelled to surrender, 
upon condition of being allowed to retire east of the mountains. 
Immediately upon the withdrawal of the English, the French 
forces had occupied the unfinished work, completed it upon a 
more formidable scale, and named it Fort Duquesne. This was 
an act of war, and was attended with more important conse- 
quences than either party at the time supposed would be the 
case. It began the final struggle by which the power of France 
in America was broken. The war which ensued is known in 
European history as the Seven Years' War ; in our own as the 
French and Indian War. It began on the banks of the Ohio, 
and for nearly two years was confined to the New World. 

Colonel Fry having fallen sick at Winchester, the direction 
of affairs on the frontier was left exclusively in the hands of the 
young Lieutenant-Colonel, who at once resolved to push for- 
ward, and upon reaching the junction of Red Stone Creek with 
the Monongahela, the site of the present town of Brownsville, 
to build a fort there, and hold it until he could be reinforced 
from Virginia. He took with him about 160 men, and set out 
from W^iils' Creek on the 29th of April. His force was poorly 
provided with clothing and tents, and was deficient in military 
supplies of all kinds. The country to be traversed was a wild, 
unbroken region, without roads or bridges, and through it ar- 
tillery and wagons were to be transported. The little band 
moved slowly and with difficulty, and Washington pushed on 
in advance with a small detachment, intending to secure the 
position on the Monongahela, and await the arrival of the main 
body. 

On the 20th of I\Iay he reached the Youghiogheny, and 
there received a message from his ally the Half King, telling 
him that the French were in heavy force at Fort Duquesne. 
This report was confirmed at the Little Meadows by the trad- 



42 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ers, and by another message from the Half King on the 25th 
of May, warning Washington that a force of French and 
Indians had left Fort Duquesne on a secret expedition. Wash- 
ington was confident that this expedition was directed against 
him, and advanced to the Great Meadows, and took position 
there. On the morning of the 27th Gist arrived at the camp, 
and reported that he had seen the trail of the French within 
five miles of the Great Meadows. In the evening of the same 
day a runner came in from the Half King, with a message that 
the French were close at hand. Taking with him forty men, 
Washington set off for the Half King's camp, and by a difficult 
night march through a tangled forest, in the midst of a driving 
ram, reached it about daylight. The runners of the Half King 
reported the French encamped in a deep glen not far distant, 
and it was decided to attack them at once. The Half King and 
his warriors placed themselves under Washington's orders, and 
the march was resumed towards the French camp. The French 
were surprised, and an action of about a quarter of an hour en- 
sued. The enemy lost ten men killed, among whom was their 
commander Jumonville, and twenty-one prisoners. 

Washington was very anxious to follow up the advantage he 
had gained, and had already appealed to the Governors of 
Maryland and Pennsylvania for assistance, but no aid reached 
him. Unable to advance in the face of the rapidly increasing 
forces of the French, he threw up a stockade fort at the Great 
Meadows, which he named Fort Necessity, from the fact that 
his troops were almost in a starving condition. Somewhat 
later there arrived at Fort Necessity an independent company 
of South Carolina volunteers under Captain Mackay. Wash- 
ington, by the death of Colonel Fry a short time before, had 
succeeded to the command of the regiment. He held his com- 
mission, however, from the Governor of Virginia, while that of 
Captain Mackay had been granted him by the King; the latter 
therefore refused to obey the orders of Washington, whom he 
regarded as a mere provincial officer, or to consider himself 
under his command. In order to put an end to the annoyance, 
Washington left Mackay and his company to guard Fort Neces- 
sit)^, while with his own regiment he advanced on the iith of 
June towards Redstone Creek. Upon reaching Gist's trading- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 43 

post, about thirteen miles from Fort Necessity, he received in- 
telligence that the French at Fort Duquesne had been heavily 
reinforced, and that a large force would be at once despatched 
against him. He therefore resolved to retreat at once to Fort 
Necessity, and as there was a deficiency of horses, set the exam- 
ple to his officers by relinquishing his own horse to aid in 
transporting the baggage. The South Carolina company had 
been ordered up from Fort Necessity, and had joined the main 
force, but refused to take any part in the labors of the retreat, 
fancying that their being " King's soldiers " exempted them from 
this duty. Upon reaching Great Meadows the Virginia troops, 
exhausted with fatigue and hunger, and indignant at the con- 
duct of the South Carolinians, refused to proceed any further; 
and Washington, who had intended to retreat to a point nearer 
Wills' Creek, was obliged to halt at Fort Necessity, which he 
at once set to work to strengthen. 

His retreat to the Great Meadows was a timely and prudent 
move. A force of over five hundred well-equipped French 
troops and several hundred Indians had been despatched 
against Washington from Fort Duquesne, under command of 
Captain de Villiers. Failing to find him at Gist's plantation, 
De Villiers pushed on to the Great Meadows, encouraged by the 
report of a deserter that the English were starving. On the 
3d of July the French and Indians suddenly appeared before 
Fort Necessity, and occupied the hills surrounding it. The 
attacking party were able to shelter themselves behind trees, 
and could command the fort from their safe position, while the 
English were greatly exposed, and it became evident to the 
most inexperienced that the fort was untenable. Nevertheless, 
the work was held for nine hours under a heavy fire, and amid 
the discomforts of a severe rain-storm. At length, De Villiers, 
the French commander, fearing that his ammunition would be 
exhausted, proposed a parley and offered terms to Washington. 
The English had lost thirty killed, the French but three. The 
terms of capitulation proposed by De Villiers were interpreted 
to Washington, who did not understand French, by Jacob Van- 
braam, Washington's old fencing-master, who was serving as a 
captain in his regiment, and who was "a Dutchman, little ac- 
quainted with the English tongue." In consequence of this 



44 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

imperfect interpretation, Washington and his officers " were 
betrayed into a pledge which they would never have consented 
to give, and an act of moral suicide which they could never 
have deliberately committeed. They understood from Van- 
braam's interpretation that no fort was to be built beyond the 
mountains on lands belonging to the King of France ; but the 
terms of the articles are, neither in this place nor beyond the 
mountains ?" The capitulation was signed, and the Virginians 
were allowed to march out of the fort with the honors of war, 
retaining their arms and all their stores, but leaving their artil- 
lery. This they did on the morning of July 4th, 1754. The 
march across the mountains was rendered painful by the lack 
of provisions, but the troops at length reached the post at Wills* 
Creek, which was now called Fort Cumberland. Although the 
expedition had been unsuccessful, the conduct of Washington 
had been marked by so much prudence and good judgment 
that he received the thanks of the General Assembly of Vir- 
ginia. 

Governor Dinwiddle had already thrown many obstacles in 
the way of the defence of the colony, and he now refused to 
reward the provincial officers with the promotions they had so 
well earned. In order to avoid this, he dissolved the Virginia 
regiment, and reorganized it into independent companies, no 
officer of which was to have a rank higher than that of captain. 
It was also ordered that officers holding commissions from the 
King should take precedence of those holding commissions 
from the colonial government. Washington, feeling that he 
could not remain in the service with self-respect upon these con- 
ditions, resigned his commission, and retired to Mount Vernon. 
Soon afterwards Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, having been 
appointed by the King commander-in-chief of the forces of the 
Southern colonies, proposed to Washington, through a friend, 
to return to the army with the rank of Colonel, but with the 
actual authority of a captain. Washington declined the offer 
with characteristic dignity. " If you think me," he wrote, 
" capable of holding a commission that has neither rank nor 
emolument annexed to it, you must maintain a very contempti- 
ble opinion of my weakness, and believe me more empty than 
the commission itself." 



GEORGE WASHIXGTOy. 45 

While Washington was in retirement at Mount Vernon, vig- 
orous measurers were put in force for the prosecution of the 
war. Great Britain decided to send a royal army to the as- 
sistance of the Colonies, but was anxious that they should 
bear the brunt of the struggle themselves. General Edward 
Braddock, who was regarded as one of the most accomplished 
officers in the royal service, was sent over to take command of 
the troops in America. He reached Alexandria, Virginia, in 
February, 1755, and was soon followed by two regiments of in- 
fantry of five hundred men each, the largest force of regulars 
Great Britain had ever assembled in America. A conference of 
the Governors of the various Colonies with the new command- 
er-in-chief was held at Alexandria, and a plan of campaign 
was decided upon. Four expeditions were to be despatched 
against the French. The first, under Braddock in person, was 
to advance upon Fort Duquesne; the second was to be sent 
against Fort Niagara, under Governor Shirley of Massachu- 
setts; the third was to attack Crown Point; and the fourth 
was to expel the French from Nova Scotia. As we can relate 
here only the events of the first expedition, we may say that 
Shirley's expedition proved a failure; Johnson never reached 
Crown Point; the fourth expedition succeeded in expelling the 
French settlers from Nova Scotia, and stained its triumph with 
inexcusable cruelties to those unhappy people. 

General Braddock was thoroughly proficient in the theory of 
his profession, but his experience in the field was limited to a 
single campaign. He possessed the confidence of his superiors 
in England, and his faith in himself was boundless. He be- 
lieved his regulars capable of accomplishing any task assigned 
them, and was imbued with a most sovereign contempt for the 
provincial troops that were to form a part of his command. 

The preparations for the campaign were made at Alexandria, 
but a few miles from Mount Vernon. The river was alive 
with ships of war and transports, and the thunder of cannon 
often echoed through the peaceful groves of that quiet home. 
Washington was deeply interested in these preparations, and 
often rode into Alexandria to witness the manoeuvres of the 
troops. He was eager to join the expedition as a volunteer, 
and his desire was reported to General Braddock, who upon 



46 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

being informed of his personal merits and his former services 
in the country soon to be the scene of war, offered him the 
position of volunteer Aide-de-camp on his staff. Washington 
at once accepted the place. It brought him no compensation 
or command, and required him to defray his expenses out of 
his own private purse. In order to accept it he was also obliged 
to leave his private affairs "to take care of themselves" during 
his absence, as he had no one in whom he had confidence to 
manage them for him. 

Had General Braddock been a more reasonable man, the 
presence of Colonel Washington in his military family might 
have been of the greatest service to him ; for the experience of 
the young colonel in a field in which the General had never 
served would have made him an invaluable counsellor. Brad- 
dock was in a strange country, and was charged with the con- 
duct of a campaign in which the ordiriary rules of warfare as 
practiced in Europe could not be adhered to. He knew no- 
thing of the difficulties of marching his army through a tangled 
wilderness and over a mountain range of the first magnitude, 
without roads and bridges ; nothing of the peculiar mode of 
warfare against which he would have to contend. Unfortunately 
for him, he was not aware of his ignorance, and would neither 
ask nor listen to information or advice upon the subject. Wash- 
ington did venture to offer suggestions based upon his knowl- 
edge of the necessities of the campaign, but his advice was 
coldly received, and he soon ceased to proffer it. 

The army assembled at Wills' Creek, and, encumbered with 
a heavy train, moved slowly across the mountains, cutting a 
road as it advanced. It was June before it set out, and such 
little progress was made from day to day that Braddock, 
greatly disheartened, privately asked Washington to advise 
him what to do. As it was known that the garrison of Fort 
Duquesne was small, Washington urged him to detach a light 
corps from the main body, unencumbered with baggage or 
tents, and make a dash at the fort before reinforcements could 
arrive from Canada. Braddock accordingly detached a division 
of twelve hundred men and ten pieces of cannon, with a train 
of pack-horses to carry the baggage, and pushed on in ad- 
vance with them, leaving Colonel Dunbar to bring up the 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 47 

main division as rapidly as possible. He refused, however, to 
employ a band of trained scouts, who offered their services to 
him, and who would have been invaluable in such a march. 
He moved so slowly with his advanced division that it was the 
8th of July before it reached the east bank of the Mononga- 
hela, about fifteen miles above Fort Duquesne. Washington, 
who had been ill for some days, and had been left behind at 
Dunbar's camp, rejoined Braddock on the same day, though 
far from well. 

Early on the morning of the 9th of July the march was re- 
sumed. By noon the troops were but ten miles distant from 
Fort. Duquesne. Washington was well convinced that the 
French and Indians were aware of the movements of the army, 
and would seek to attack it before it could reach the fort. He 
therefore urged Braddock to throw in advance the Virginia 
Rangers, three hundred strong, as they were experienced Indian 
fighters. Braddock angrily rebuked his Aid, and to make the 
rebuke more pointed, ordered the Virginia troops and other 
provincials to take position in the rear of the regulars. The 
latter made a gallant show as they marched along with their 
gay uniforms, their burnished arms and flying colors, and their 
drums beating a lively march. Washington could not repress 
his admiration at the brilliant sight, nor his anxiety for the 
result. 

His forebodings were not without cause. The French had 
been informed by their scouts of the approach of the English 
army, and early on the morning of the 9th a force of about two 
hundred and thirty French and Canadians and six hundred and 
thirty-seven Indians, under De Beaujeu, set out to harass the 
English on their march. They concealed themselves along the 
sides of a ravine, through which the route of the latter lay; and 
about two o'clock in the afternoon, as the head of the English 
column entered this defile, a heavy fire was opened upon it by 
the force in ambush. The assailants, concealed among the 
trees, were almost invisible to the English, who were fully ex- 
posed to their fire, as they occupied a broad ravine, covered 
with low shrubs, immediately below the eminence held by the 
French. 

The regulars were quickly thrown into confusion by the 



48 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

heavy fire and the fierce yells of the Indians, and their losses 
were so severe and sudden that they became panic-stricken. 
The advance of the English was driven back, and it crowded 
upon the second division in disorder. A reinforcement of eight 
hundred men under Colonel Burton arrived at this moment, 
but only to add to the confusion. The French now pushed 
their lines forward and increased the disorder of the English, 
who had by this time lost nearly all their officers. Braddock 
now came up, and gallantly exerted himself to restore order, 
but "the King's regulars and disciplined troops" were so utterly 
demoralized that not one of his commands was obeyed. 

The only semblance of resistance maintained by the English 
was by the Virginia Rangers, whom Braddock had insulted at 
the beginning of the day's march. Immediately upon the com- 
mencement of the battle they had adopted the tactics of the 
Indians, and had thrown themselves behind trees, from which 
shelter they were rapidly picking off the savages. Washington 
entreated Braddock to allow the regulars to follow the example 
of the Virginians; but the latter refused, and stubbornly endea- 
vored to form them in platoons under the fatal fire that was 
being poured upon them by their hidden assailants. Thus 
through his obstinacy many useful lives were thrown away 
The officers did not share the panic of their men, but behaved 
with the greatest gallantry. They were the especial marks of 
the Indian sharp-shooters, and many of them were killed or 
wounded. Two of Braddock's aids were seriously hurt, and 
their duties devolved upon Washington in addition to his own. 
He passed repeatedly over the field, carrying the orders of the 
commander and encouraging the men. When sent to bring up 
the artillery, he found it surrounded by Indians, its com.mander. 
Sir Peter Halket, killed, and the men standing helpless from 
fear. Springing from his horse, he appealed to the men to save 
the guns, pointed a field-piece and discharged it at the enemy, 
and called on the men to rally. He could accomplish nothing 
either by his words or example; the men deserted the guns and 
fled. In a letter to his brother, Washington wrote, "I had four 
bullets through my coat, two horses shot under me, yet escaped 
unhurt, though death was levelling my companions on every 
side around me." 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 49 

Braddock had five horses shot under him, and at length re- 
ceived a mortal wound. His fall saved the army from destruc- 
tion. He was conveyed to the rear, and the order was given to 
fall back. The "regulars fled like sheep before the hounds;" 
the French and Indians pressed forward in pursuit, and all 
would have been lost had not the Virginia Rangers thrown 
themselves in the rear and covered the flight of the regulars 
with a determination that checked the pursuers. The artillery, 
wagons, and all the camp train were abandoned, and the sav- 
ages, stopping to plunder these, allowed the fugitives to reach 
a point of safety. 

Having seen the wounded general as comfortable as circum- 
stances would permit, Washington rode all that night and the 
next day, though still suffering from the effects of his illness, 
to Dunbar's camp, to procure wagons for the wounded and sol- 
diers to guard them. With these he hurried back to the fugi- 
tives. 

Braddock was borne in a litter as far as the Great Meadows. 
He seemed heart-broken by his reverse, and rarely spoke. It 
is said that he thanked Captain Stewart, of the Virginia Ran- 
gers for his care of him since his fall, and apologized to Wash- 
ington for the manner in which he had received his advice. He 
had no wish to live, and died at Fort Necessity on the night of 
the 13th of July. He was buried the next morning before day- 
break, as secretly as possible, for fear the savages might find and 
violate his grave. The chaplain having been wounded, Wash- 
ington read over the lonely grave the burial service of the 
English Church. 

Dunbar, who succeeded Braddock in the command of the 
expedition, at once broke up his camp, destroyed his stores and 
retreated beyond the mountains. Disregarding the entreaties 
of the colonists not to leave the frontiers exposed to the sav- 
ages, he continued his retreat to Philadelphia, and went into 
winter quarters there. 

The effect of these reverses upon the people of America was 
most marked. When they understood that Braddock's splen- 
did force of disciplined regulars had been routed by a mere 
handful of French and Indians', their respect for the invincibility 
of British troops was destroyed ; and their confidence in their 
4 



5^ AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

own prowess was greatly increased by the proud reflection that 
the only thing that had been done to save the army of Brad- I 
dock from total destruction had been accomplished by the Dro- 
vincials. ^ 

Washington's conduct was a subject of praise in all the 
colonies, and brought his name conspicuously before the whole 
people of America. In a sermon preached a few months after 
the battle, the Rev. Samuel Davies, a learned clergyman, spoke 
of him as that heroic youth, Colonel Washington whom I 
cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in'so signal 
a manner for some important service to his country " Wa<-h 
ington himself attributed his wonderful escape from even a 
wound to the overruling providence of God. The Indians 
opposed to him regarded it in the same light. About fifteen 
years after the battle, while examining some lands near the 
mouth of the Great Kanawha River, Washington was visited 

the battle o the Monongahela, among the Indian allies of the 
l^rench ; that he singled him out and repeatedly fired his rifle 
at him • that he had also ordered his young warriors to make 

tur'ned "h'k'^ ""^' ' '"' '''''' °" '""'"^ ^" ^^-- bullets 
turned aside by some invisible and inscrutable interposition he 
was convinced that the hero at whom he had so often and so 
truly aimed must be, for some wise purpose, specially protected 
by the Great Spirit. He now came, therefore, to testify his 
veneration. ' ^ 

The retreat of Dunbar left the frontiers of Virginia and 
Pennsylvama at the mercy of the savages, who niaintained a 
desultory but destructive warfare along the entire border In 
V,rgm,a a force was raised for the defense of the frontier, and 
Colonel Washington was appointed commander-in-chief " of all 
the forces raised or to be raised for the defense of the colony " 
He was g,ven so few men, however, that his undertaking was a 
hopeless one The laws for the government of the militia were 
uiefficent and there was no means of compelling them to serve 
agamst the.r will. Through the efforts of Washington th 
General Assembly of Virginia was mduced to enact more 
stnngent measures for this purpose. The question of prece- 
dence was also revived and occasioned him great annoyance 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 5^ 

A Captain Dagworthy of Maryland, who had held a king's 
commission and had commuted it for half pay, had raised a 
company of Maryland volunteers, and was stationed at Fort 
Cumberland. Regarding himself as a " King's officer," he 
refused to obey the orders of Washington, who, though com- 
mander-in-chief of the Virginia forces, was a provincial officer. 
To settle this vexed question Washington, in February, 1756, 
accompanied by two of his officers, made a journey on horse- 
back to Boston, five hundred miles distant, to consult Major- 
General Shirley, who had succeeded Braddock in command of 
the royal forces in America. The question was settled in 
Washington's favor as regarded Dagworthy, but the former was 
not able to have himself and his officers put upon the regular 
establishment with commissions from the King, as he had 
hoped. Washington remained ten days in Boston, and was the 
recipient of the cordial hospitality of some of the leading citi- 
zens of the place, for his reputation had preceded him, and he 
was well and favorably known in the metropolis of New Eng- 
land. Returning through New York he spent a short time 
there with Beverly Robinson, an old friend and schoolmate, 
who had married and settled in that city. Tradition has it that 
he became deeply enamored of Miss Mary Philipse, the beauti- 
ful sister of his friend's wife ; that he addressed her and was 
refused. This was not his first love affair; and he did not take 
his rejection very deeply to heart, as we shall see. 

Returning to Winchester, Washington resumed his com- 
mand, but was unable with the means at hand to save the valley 
of the Shenandoah from the savages, who ravaged it with mer- 
ciless fury. The more protected regions were also kept in a 
state of constant uneasiness and alarm. Governor Dinwiddie 
was repeatedly appealed to by the young commander to furnish 
more men, but refused to do so, alleging the necessity of retam- 
ing a strong force in the eastern counties to keep the negro 
slaves in subjection. The Virginia newspapers in their discus- 
sions of the troubles on the frontier endeavored to throw the 
responsibility upon the army, and especially upon its commander. 
Washington's indignation was aroused by this unjust censure, 
and he was prevented from throwing up his commission in dis- 
gust only by the earnest entreaties of his friends in the colonial 



52 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



government. He urged upon the Governor and Couneil the 
estabhshment of a fort at Winehester, the central poin o a 
w,de d,str,ct of country, as a place of deposit for the a ms and 
supphes for the nj.Htia of the border, and a'refuge for the : „ „ 
and ch,Idren m the event of a savage inroad upon their homes 
It was also to be the headquarters of the commander-m-cWef 
He at length had the satisfaction of receiving in the summer o 
.756 orders to begm the construction of this fortress It re- 
ce,ved the name of Fort Loudon, in honor of the Earl of Lou- 
don, the new commander of the royal forces in America 

Governor Dinwiddie had been anxious to appoint Colonel 

forces, but had been obhged to yield to the popular wish and 

confer that post upon Colonel Washington. He avenged h m 

elf by g,vmg the latter all the annoyance be could, and thwart- 

ng h,s measures as far as poss.ble. "So much an, I kept in 

the dark • wrote Washington, "that I do not know whether to 

sa.d. The orders I receive are full of ambiguity. I am left 
l.ke a wanderer in the wilderness, to proceed^at hazard. I am 
answerable for consequences, and blamed without the privileJ 
of defense." The Governor also misrepresented the measurS 
of Washmgton to the Earl of Loudon, and in order to place 
ZTr,Vr "T "g'"- Washington obtained leave to repa 

hief H " '°, °" ' ~"-"^«™ -th the commande,!r 
ch.ef. He was well received by Lord Loudon, and his visit had 
the happy effect of removing the wrong impressions under which 
the Earl had been placed by the Governor. His lordship f^e 
quently consulted h,m on points of front.er service durin. h s 
stay .n Ph.Iade^hia, and his advice was generally adopted. 

After a bnef v,s,t to Philadelphia Washington returned to 
Wmchester, and spent the year ,757 in the arduous task of 
defendmg the frontier. He was thus engaged while Earl of 
Loudon made his unfortunate attempt upon' Loui burg I„ 
Januan. ,758, Governor Dinwiddie was recalled to England o 
the great advantage of the public service in Virginia 

mi^SZT ""r"' °''" ''""'«'' °f great importance. 
Wdham P tt came mto power in England at the head of the 
new mmrsto^, and at once infused fresh vigor into the meas 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 53 

ures of the government. He appreciated and sympathized 
with the Americans more perfectly than any of his predecessors 
in office, and exerted himself to encourage and develop their 
patriotism by a generous and systematic assistance of their 
efforts. He caused the government of Great Britain to assume 
the expenses of the war, and while the colonies were each 
required to furnish troops, he "stipulated that the colonial 
troops raised for this purpose should be supplied with arms, 
ammunition, tents and provisions, in the same manner as the 
regular troops, and at the King's expense; so that the only 
charge to the colonies would be that of levying, clothing, and 
paying the men. The Governors were also authorized to issue 
commissions to provincial officials, from colonels downwards, 
and these officials were to hold rank in the united army accord- 
ing to their commissions." Lord Loudon was recalled, and 
three expeditions were organized under as many separate 
officers. The first of these was dispatched against Louisburg 
under General Amherst, assisted by General James Wolfe, and 
captured that fortress ofter a siege of twenty days. The second, 
under General Abercrombie, was sent to capture Ticonderoga, 
and Crown Point. Lord George Howe, who was greatly be- 
loved by the army and people, was the second in command in 
this expedition. Unhappily he was killed in a skirmish near 
the foot of Lake George, and Abercrombie ruined his army by 
a disastrous and ill-advised attack upon the works at Ticonder- 
ogo. He abandoned the enterprise, which he was incompetent 
to conduct, and returned to the head of Lake George. A 
detachment of provincials from his army, under Colonel Brad- 
street, of New York, marched to Oswego, and crossing Lake 
Ontario in open boats, captured Fort Frontenac at the head of 
that Lake, and destroyed it, together with its stores. This 
capture was of the highest importance, and led to the aban- 
donment of the French forts on the Ohio, which drew their sup- 
plies from it. 

The third expedition was destined for the capture of Fort 
Duquesne, and was placed under the command of Brigadier- 
General Forbes, a veteran officer of the English army. To this 
expedition the Virginia troops under Washington were attached. 
They numbered less than nineteen hundred men, and were 



54 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

without arms, tents, field equipage and the other necessities of 
a military force. They had been brought into the field by the 
extraordinary exertions of Washington, who endeavored, with- 
out success, to supply their wants. While Forbes was assem- 
bling the bulk of his troops in Pennsylvania, Colonel Washing- 
ton was ordered by Sir John St. Clair, the quarter-master 
general of the forces, to repair to Williamsburg and lay the staie 
of his command before the Governor and Council. He at once 
set out from Winchester on horseback, accompanied by his 
servant Bishop, who had been bequeathed to him by General 
Braddock. Little did he imagine what the journey would bring 
forth. 

At the crossing of the Pamunkey River, a branch of the 
York, he met a Mr. Chamberlayne, a planter residing in the 
neighborhood, who insisted that he should accompany him 
home, and dine with him. He would take no excuse, and 
Washington, though pleading the importance of reaching 
Williamsburg that night, was fain to accept the hospitality of 
the warm-hearted planter. 

Among the guests at the planter's niansion was a young 
widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, daughter of Mr. John Dandridge, 
a prominent citizen of the colony. Her husband, John Parke 
Custis, had been dead about three years, and had left her with 
two young children and a large fortune. She was in the flush 
of her youth, and was handsome in person, engaging in man- 
ner, and lovely in character. Washington, always susceptible 
to female beauty, fell in love with her at once. In the charm 
of her society he forgot his impatience to reach Williamsburg, 
and when Bishop, faithful to his orders, brought the horses to 
the door, he was left to wait, and to speculate upon the cause 
of his master's unusual delay. Finally the horses were sent 
back to the stable, and Washington yielded a ready consent to 
Mr. Chamberlayne's invitation to pass the night under his 
roof The next morning he was in the saddle again, and on 
the road to Williamsburg. The White House, the residence of 
Mrs. Custis, was not far distant from the capital, and Washing- 
ton improved his opportunities so well, that when his brief visit 
was ended, he set out on his return to Winchester, carrying 
with him the promise of the blooming young widow to become 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 55 

his wife at the close of the campaign against Fort Duquesne. 
Soon after his arrival at his post, he was ordered to repair with 
his command to Fort Cumberland. He reached that post on 
the 2d of July, and proceeded to open a road between the fort 
and Raystown, Pennsylvania, thirty miles distant, where Forbes 
was assembling his forces. 

As his troops were but poorly supplied with regimental 
clothing, Washington caused them to be equipped in the light 
hunting dress of the Indians. " Convenience, rather than show, 
should be consulted," he declared. This measure received the 
warm approval of Colonel Bouquet, who commanded Forbes' 
advanced forces. "Their dress," wrote the veteran, "should 
be one pattern for this expedition." 

As it was his intention to retire from the army at the close 
of the campaign, Washington proposed himself to the elec- 
tors of Frederick county as their representative in the House 
of Burgesses. He was elected by a large majority over several 
competitors, during his absence with the troops in the field. 

The force assembled under General Forbes for tlie reduction 
of Fort Duquesne numbered seven thousand men. Washing- 
ton urged upon Forbes the advantages of adopting the old road 
by the Monongahela cut by Braddock's army, but the General 
decided to construct a new road farther to the north. While 
this road was being constructed, Colonel Bouquet, with the ad- 
vanced guard, crossed Laurel Hill and established a post at 
Loyal Hanna. The new road progressed very slowly, only 
forty-five miles being constructed in six weeks. Bouquet had 
with him a force of about 2,ooo men, chiefly Highlanders and 
Virginians. Learning from his scouts that Fort Duquesne was 
held by a garrison of only eight hundred men, of whom three 
hundred were Indians, Bouquet, without orders from General 
Forbes, resolved to attempt the capture of the fort by a sudden 
blow. He detached a force of eight hundred Highlanders and 
a company of Virginians, under Major Grant, to reconnoitre 
Fort Duquesne. The French were fully informed of Grant's 
movements, but allowed him to approach unmolested, intending 
to disarm his vigilance, and then attack him. Grant affected 
the usual contempt for the provincial troops, and upon arriving 
before the fort, placed Major Lewis with the Virginians to 



56 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

guard the baggage, and sent his regulars forward to reconnoi- 
tre the fort, and make a sketch of it. He was greatly encour- 
aged by the fact that the French allowed him to approach 
without firing a shot at him, and in his self-complacency 
marched right into an ambush which the enemy had prepared 
for him. The French commander had posted the Indians 
along the sides of a defile by which the English were advanc- 
ing, and at a given signal the garrison made a sudden sally 
from the fort against the Highlanders, while the Indians 
opened a hea\y fire upon them from their place of conceal- 
ment. The regulars were quickly thrown into confusion, and 
their officers were found incapable of conducting such an en- 
counter. Attracted by the firing, Major Lewis, with a com- 
pany of Virginians, hastened to the scene of the encounter, and 
engaging the enemy hand to hand, enabled the regulars to save 
themselves from a general massacre. The detachment was 
routed with heavy loss, and both Grant and Lewis were taken 
prisoners. The fugitives retreated to the point where the bag- 
gage had been left. It was guarded by Captain Bullit, whom 
Lewis had left there with one company of Virginians. By the 
gallant and skillful resistance of this little force, the French and 
Indians were checked, and finally driven back in confusion. 
The English then continued their retreat with all speed to 
Loyal Hanna. Again the provincials had saved the regulars 
from total destruction. General Forbes had the magnanimity 
to acknowledge and compliment the services of the Virginians, 
and Captain Bullit was promoted to the rank of Major. 

General Forbes was greatly disheartened by Grant's disaster. 
A council of war was called to deliberate upon the future opera- 
tions of the army, and decided, much to Washington's disgust, 
that, as it was now November, and they were still fifty miles 
from Fort Duquesne, with an unbroken country between them 
and the Ohio, nothing morq^ could be accomplished until the 
spring. The enterprise was on the point of being abandoned 
when fortunately three prisoners were brought in, from whom 
Washington drew the information that the garrison of Fort Du- 
quesne was reduced to a very small force, that the Indians had 
deserted the French, and that the expected reinforcements and 
supplies from Canada had not arrived. He was confident from 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 57 

the reports of the deserters that a well executed effort would 
result in the capture of the fort. 

This information decided General Forbes to continue the 
expedition. A force of twenty-five hundred picked troops was 
placed under Washington's command, and he was ordered to 
p_ush forward as rapidly as possible, and prepare the road for 
the advance of the main army. Washington was ably seconded 
by the energetic Armstrong of Pennsylvania, and the march was 
pressed with such vigor that in ten days the army arrived in 
the vicinity of Fort Duquesne. The French now saw that the 
fall of the fort was inevitable. They had but five hundred men 
for its defense, and Bradstreet's capture of Fort Frontenac had 
cut them off from the reinforcements and supplies they had ex- 
pected from Canada. They abandoned Fort Duquesne on the 
night of the 24th of November, and embarking m flat boats 
floated down the Ohio to join their countrymen in the valley 
of the Mississippi. On the 25th the English army arrived be- 
fore the fort, and finding it deserted and in ruins, occupied it. 
In accordance with the unanimous wish of the army. General 
Forbes changed the name of the place to Fort Pitt. The .splen- 
did city of Pittsburgh now marks the site. 

Washington's services throughout this campaign were ac 
knowledged with pride in all the colonies, but the British Gov- 
ernment took no notice of them. Not even Pitt, with all his 
appreciation of America, thought it worth while to offer him 
any promotion or reward. At the close of the campaign he 
resigned his commission, and retired to civil life. He took no 
part in, but was an interested observer of the events of the cam- 
paign of 1759, which witnessed the capture of Quebec by Wolfe, 
and the final expulsion of the French from Canada, and the 
triumphant close of the war. 

Shortly after his withdrawal from the army, the marriage of 
Washington to Mrs. Custis was celebrated at the White House, 
the home of the bride, on the 6th of January, 1759. It was 
witnessed by a goodly company of relatives and friends, and 
the festivities were conducted with genuine old Virginian hospi- 
tality. 

During the three months following his marriage, Wash- 
ington resided at the White House, and durincf this time took 



58 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

his seat in the House of Burgesses as the representative of 
Frederick county. The house had determined to mark the 
occasion of his entrance into that body by a signal testimonial 
of its appreciation of his services. After he had taken the 
oath of office, and had repaired to his seat, Mr. Robinson, the 
speakei, in an eloquent address, returned him the thanks of the 
Colony of Virginia, for the distinguished services he had ren- 
dered his country in the field. At the close of the speaker's 
remarks, Washington rose to reply, but was so abashed that 
he could not utter a word. Seeing his modest confusion, the 
speaker gracefully came to his relief "Sit down, Mr. Wash- 
ington," he said, smiling, "Your modesty equals your valor, 
and that surpasses the power of any language I possess." 

At the close of the session of the House, Washington returned 
with his bride to his own home at Mount Vernon. There he 
hoped to pass the remainder of his days in peace. In a letter 
to a friend, soon after his return to Mount Vernon, he wrote : 
" I am now, I believe, fixed in this seat, with an agreeable part- 
ner for life, and I hope to find more happiness in retirement 
than I ever experienced in the rude and bustling world." He 
was sincere in his assertion. Rural life was always the most 
fascinating to him, and he indulged no ambitious dreams of 
worldly greatness. Nothing but the strongest sense of public 
duty could tempt him to leave his beloved home. 

It was indeed a charming home. It was situated on a com- 
manding height which rose from the shore of the broad Poto- 
mac, long stretches of which could be seen in both directions, 
up and down, from the grounds and verandah. The grounds 
were well laid out, and the mansion, though simple, was com- 
fortable and tasteful ; the estate was large and was divided into 
several farms, each of which had its own laborers and overseer, 
and was devoted to a particular kind of culture. The river 
abounded in fish of the choicest kinds, and the estate had 
several valuable fisheries reserved to it. To the management 
of this property Washington gave his especial and unremitting 
care, and his account books, which are models of their kind, 
show that he was a most systematic manager. His marriage 
had added about one hundred thousand dollars to his already 
large fortune, and he was enabled to live in a style of elegant 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 59 

and dignified comfort most congenial to his tastes. He also 
assumed the guardianship of the children of his wife by her 
first marriage, and the administration of their property, a trust 
which it is needless to say he executed with the most scrupu- 
lous fidelity. He was a man of sincere and unaffected piety, and 
was a member of the "established" or Episcopal Church. He 
was a vestryman of two parishes, Fairfax and Truro. The 
parish church of Fairfax was at Alexandria, ten miles from 
Mount Vernon ; that of Truro at Pohick, seven miles distant. 
The Pohick church was rebuilt on a plan designed by him, and 
almost entirely at his expense. He was a regular attendant at 
one or the other of these churches every Sunday when the 
weather and the roads permitted. " His demeanor was rever- 
ential and devout. Mrs. Washington knelt during prayers ; he 
always stood, as was the custom at that time. Both were com- 
municants." 

"The products of his estate," says Irving, "also became so 
noted for the faithfulness, as to the quality and quantity with 
which they were put up, that it is said any barrel of flour that 
bore the brand of George Washington, Mount Vernon, was 
exempted from the customary inspection in the West India 
ports." 

" He was an early riser," continues the same writer; "often 
before day-break in the winter when the nights were long. 
On such occasions he lit his own fire, and wrote or read by 
candle-light. He breakfasted at seven in summer, at eight in 
winter. Two small cups of tea and three or four cakes of In- 
dian meal (called hoe-cakes), formed his frugal repast. Imme- 
diately after breakfast he mounted his horse and visited those 
parts of the estate where any work was going on, seeing to 
everything with his own eyes, and often aiding with his own 
hand. Dinner was served at two o'clock. He ate heartily, 
but was no epicure, or critical about his food. His beverage 
was small beer or cider, and two glasses of old Madeira. He 
took tea, of which he was very fond, early in the evening, and 
retired for the night about nine o'clock. If confined to the 
house by bad weather, he took that occasion to arrange his 
papers, post up his accounts, or write letters; passing part of the 
time in reading and occasionally reading aloud to the family. 



6o AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

" He treated his negroes with kindness ; attended to their 
comforts; was particularly careful of them. in sickness; but 
never tolerated idleness, and exacted a faithful performance of 
all their alloted tasks. He had a quick eye at calculating each 
man's capabilities. An entry in his diary gives a curious in- 
stance of this. Four of his negroes, employed as carpenters, 
were hewing and shaping timber. It appeared to him, in 
noticing the amount of work accomplished between two suc- 
ceeding mornings, that they had loitered at their labor. Sitting 
down quietly, he timed their operations ; how long it took them 
to get their cross-cut saw and other implements ready ; how 
long to clear away the branches from the trunk of a fallen tree ; 
how long to hew and saw it ; what time was expended in con- 
sidering and consulting; and after all, how much work was 
effected during the time he looked on. From this he made his 
computation how much they could execute in the course of a 
day, working entirely at their ease. 

"At another time we find him working for a part of two days 
with Peter, his smith, to make a plough on a new invention of 
his own. This, after two or three failures, he accomplished. 
Then, with less than his usual judgment, he put his two chariot 
horses to the plough, and ran a great risk of spoiling them, in 
giving his new invention a trial over ground thickly swarded. 
Anon, during a thunder-storm, a frightened negro alarms the 
house with word that the mill is giving way, upon which there 
is a general turnout of all the forces, with Washington at their 
head, wheeling and shoveling gravel, during a pelting rain, to 
check the rushing water'" 

At Mount Vernon Washington had also abundant opportun- 
ity to indulge his love of the chase; and his diary abounds in 
entries of stirring fox-hunts with the Fairfaxes and other friends. 
In the height of the season he would be out with the hounds 
two or three times a week. On such occasions there would be 
a hunting dinner at Mount Vernon, or at the residence of some 
other member of the party, "at which convivial repasts Wash- 
ington is said to have enjoyed himself with unwonted hilarit}-." 

His marriage was unblessed with children, but he lavished 

1 Irving's Life of Washington. Vol. I., pp. 289-290. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 6 1 

a father's affection and care upon those of his wife, earnestly- 
striving to rear them so as to fit them for the stations they 
would be called upon to fill in after years, should they live. 
The hopes he had formed for them were not destined to be ful- 
filled. The daughter, Miss Custis, was of a fragile constitution, 
and, after a long period of failing health, died at Mount Vernon 
on the 19th of June, 1773, in the seventeenth year of her age. 
Washington was deeply afflicted, and for a time his usual forti- 
tude seemed to have deserted him. 

Sixteen years of peaceful, though busy life, were passed at 
Mount Vernon. Though devoted to his rural pursuits, Wash- 
ington was not permitted to remain in strict privacy. During 
this period he served as judge of the county court and mem- 
ber of the House of Burgesses, discharging every public duty 
with characteristic exactness and promptness. In 1770 he made 
a journey to the Ohio, in company with his friend and physi- 
cian. Dr. Craik, for the purpose of locating the lands granted 
to the Virginian troops for their services in the French war. 
Proceeding to Fort Pitt, around which a trading village of 
twenty log houses, the germ of the future city, had sprung up, 
the voyagers embarked in a canoe, and descended the Ohio to 
the mouth of the Great Kanawha, their only companions being 
two Indians, who managed the boat. The journey was not 
without danger, for the Indians of the Ohio Valley were rest- 
less and discontented, and some of them had taken up the 
hatchet. Washington was enabled to select some excellent 
lands on behalf of the soldiers' grant, and to these affixed his 
mark to prevent their appropriation by other parties. This 
accomplished, he returned home as he had come, by way of 
Fort Pitt. 

The peacefulness of Washington's life at Mount Vernon was 
at length disturbed by the growing troubles between the colo- 
nies and the mother country. He took a deep interest in them, 
and while he was sincerely anxious for a settlement which 
should leave the ties that bound the Colonies to England un- 
broken, he was from the first convinced that the only safety of 
the Colonies lay in asserting their rights with firmness. 

In this brief memoir we have neither the time nor the space 
to relate the causes which produced the separation between the 



62 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Colonies and Great Britain. We can only mention them inci- 
dentally as they occur in the course of the narrative. 

Great Britain never regarded her American Colonies with 
either motherly kindness or wisdom. Jealous of their growing 
commercial and manufacturing wealth, she sought in numerous 
ways to cripple their industry. Among other measures designed 
for this purpose, it was proposed by the British Government to 
levy a direct tax by parliament upon the Colonies, and to apply 
the proceeds of this tax to the payment of a standing army 
which it was proposed to quarter upon them. An Act for this 
purpose, generally called the Stamp Act, was passed by the 
Commons on the 2 2d of March, 1765, by a majority of nine to 
one, and on the ist of April by the House of Lords with 
scarcely a dissenting voice. The King at once signed the bill. 
The Act required that every written or printed paper used in 
trade, in order to be valid, should have affixed to it a stamp of 
a denomination to be determined by the character of the paper, 
and that no stamp should be for a less sum than one shilling. 
The Colonies had earnestly protested against this measure 
while it was being discussed in Parliament, but the only notice 
which the Government took of these protests was to send over 
a body of troops for the purpose of enforcing obedience to the 
Stamp Act, and the ministers were authorized by Parliament 
to compel the Colonies to find " quarters, fuel, cider or rum, 
candles and other necessaries for these troops." 

These measures were denounced in all the Colonies. On 
the 29th of May, Patrick Henry introduced into the House of 
Burgesses of Virginia, of which Washington was a member, 
his famous resolutions declaring that the right and power to 
levy taxes upon the inhabitants of Virginia rested in the Gen- 
eral Assembly of that Colony alone, and with no other body, 
or person, and that whoever maintained the contrary should 
be deemed an enemy to the colony. The resolutions were 
adopted by a decisive majority. The General Court of Massa- 
chusetts authorized the courts of that province to proceed to 
transact their business without the use of stamps. In the other 
Colonies the opposition was strong, and associations called 
" Sons of Liberty" were formed all over the country, consist- 
ing of men who pledged themselves to oppose the Stamp Act, 



" GEORGE WASHINGTON. 63 

and defend the rights of the Colonies when assailed. The de- 
termination not to use the stamps was general, and when the 
1st of November, 1765, the day on which the hated law was to 
go into operation, arrived, it was found that all the officials ap- 
pointed to distribute the stamps had resigned their places. 
The bells in all the Colonies were tolled, and the flags lowered 
in mourning for the death of liberty in America. The merchants 
pledged themselves to import no more English goods, and the 
})eople agreed to discontinue the use of all articles of English 
manufacture, until the law was repealed. 

In June, 1765, the Legislature of Massachusetts issued a call 
for a General Congress of delegates from all the colonies to 
meet in New York on the first Tuesday in October, to consider 
the state of affairs. Nine of the colonies were represented in 
this body, which met at the appointed time. The Congress 
drew up a declaration of rights for the colonies, a memorial to 
Parliament and a petition to the King, in which, after asserting 
their loyalty to the Crown and laws of England, they in- 
sisted upon their right to be taxed only by their own repre- 
sentatives. These documents were submitted to and approved 
by the provincial legislatures, and were laid before the British 
Government in the name of the United Colonies. 

These measures brought up the subject in Parliament, and 
the friends of America urgently demanded a repeal of the Act. 
Pitt and Burke advocated the appeal with mgichless eloquence. 
Parliament was at length brought to its senses, and on the i8th 
of March, 1766, the Stamp Act was repealed. The repeal was 
celebrated with great rejoicings in both America and England, 
the latter country having become alarmed by the decrease of 
its trade with colonies. 

The British government, however, did not relinquish its 
determination to tax America, and on the 29th of June, 1767, 
the King signed an Act of Parliament imposing duties on 
glass, tea, paper, and some other articles imported into the 
Colonies. The Americans met this new aggression with a 
revival of their societies for discontinuing the importation of 
English goods. Massachusetts led this opposition, and in 
Boston the custom-house officials were mobbed for demanding 
duties on the cargo of a schooner owned by John Hancock. 



64 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The ofificers sought refuge from the mob in the fort in the 
harbor, and in September, 1768, the Royal Government ordered 
General Gage to occupy " the insolent town of Boston " with a 
strong military force. This measure but increased the dis- 
affection of the Bostonians, and on the 5th of March a collision 
occurred between the citizens and the troops, in which three of 
the former were killed and five wounded. This " massacre," as 
it was called, produced intense excitement and indignation in 
all the Colonies. 

The feeling of the Americans was so unmistakable that Par- 
liament resolved to remove the obnoxious duties. The King, 
however, expressly ordered that at least one nominal duty 
should be retained, as he did not mean to surrender his right 
to tax the Colonies. In accordance with this command. Par- 
liament retained a duty of three per cent, on tea, but removed 
all the other duties. The Americans, however, objected to the 
principle of taxation without representation, and not to the 
amount of the tax, and resolved to discontinue the use of tea 
until the duty should be repealed. Meetings for this purpose 
were held in the principal sea-ports of the country. In the 
meantime several ships loaded with tea were despatched from 
British ports to America. When the news of their sailing 
reached this country, meetings were held in the principal cities, 
and it was resolved that the tea should not be landed. Three 
ships loaded with tea reached Boston soon after. It was de- 
termined to send them back to England without permitting 
them to discharge their cargoes. Their owners, in compliance 
with the public demand, consented to order them back to Eng- 
land, if Governor Hutchinson would allow them to leave the 
harbor. The Governor refused to grant them the necessary 
passports, and on the night of the i8th of December a band of 
citizens, disguised as Indians, seized the ships, emptied the tea 
into the harbor and then quietly dispersed without harming the 
vessels. This bold act greatly incensed the British Govern- 
ment, and Parliament adopted severe measures for the punish- 
ment of the Colonies. The harbor of Boston Avas closed to all 
commerce ; the seat of government was to be removed to Salem ; 
soldiers were to be quartered upon the people of all the Colo- 
nies : and it was enacted that all officers who should be indicted 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 65 

for enforcing the measures of Parliament should be sent to 
England for trial. 

The excitement in the Colonies over these acts was tremen- 
dous. Boston was everywhere regarded as the victim of British 
tyranny, and was in constant receipt of assurances of sympathy 
and of aid in money and provisions from all the Colonies. Even 
in London the sum of ^^^30,000 was subscribed for the relief of 
the " insolent city." The excitement continued to increase 
throughout the countr)-', and the breach between America and 
England widened daily. At the instance of the General Court 
of Massachusetts and the General Assembly of Virginia, it was 
agreed by the various provincial Assemblies that a General 
Congress of delegates from all the Colonies should be held in 
Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1774. 

Though he was a deeply interested observer of these events, 
Washington did not at first take an active part in them. Two 
things held him back — his native modesty and his love of 
retirement. As the contest deepened, however, he found it 
impossible to remain an idle spectator of it, and his sense of 
public duty led him to take his place among the foremost 
champions of his country's rights. He gave his hearty support 
to the non-importation measures of the northern Colonies. In 
a letter written on the 5th of April, 1769, to his friend George 
Mason, of Virginia, he said : " The northern Colonies, it appears, 
are endeavoring to adopt this scheme. In my opinion it is a 
good one, and must be attended with salutary effects, provided 
it can be pretty generally carried into execution." The result 
of his correspondence with Mason was the draft by the latter 
of a plan of association, the members of which were to pledge 
themselves not to import or use any articles of British merchan- 
dise or manufacture subject to duty. Washington undertook 
to submit this paper to the House of Burgesses at the next 
session, which would commence in May. 

The General Assembly of Virginia took up the cause of 
Massachusetts with great warmth. A petition was addressed 
to the King, urging him not to enforce the law of Parliament 
for the removal of offenders to England for trial, but to preserve 
to his subjects the inalienable privileges of Englishmen — the 
right to be tried by a jury from the vicinage, and the right to 



^6 AMERICAN BIGRAPHY. 

produce witnesses on such trial. For this bold action the 
House of Burgesses was dissolved by Lord Botetourt, the 
Governor. The members met at a private house, and elected 
Peyton Randolph, their late speaker, moderator. Washington 
brought forward the articles of association prepared by Mason 
and himself They were amended to suit the views of the 
members present, and were signed in this form by all the dele- 
gates. The articles were subsequently offered to the whole 
Colony, and the scheme of non-exportation became as popular, 
and was as faithfully observed, in Virginia as in the Northern 
Colonies. In 1770, Lord Botetourt died, and his successor, 
Lord Dunmore, a man of a very different stamp, was but ill- 
suited to quiet the discontents of the Virginians. 

Dunmore endeavored to postpone the meeting of the General 
Assembly as long as possible, but was at length compelled to 
summon it to convene on the ist of March, 1773. Washington 
was prompt in his attendance, and took a prominent part in its 
measures, one of the earliest of which was the appointment of a 
committee of eleven persons to correspond with the other Colo- 
nies concerning matters affecting the common interest. The 
example of Virginia was followed by Massachusetts, and soon 
met with general concurrence. "These corresponding com- 
mittees," says Irving, " in effect, became the executive power of 
the patriot party, producing the happiest concert of design and 
action throughout the Colonies." 

The news of the passage of the Boston Port bill reached 
Virginia through the committee of correspondence, and was 
announced to the House of Burgesses, by which it was received 
with a burst of indignation. All other business was cast aside, 
and the House at once adopted a protest against the action of 
the Royal Government. On the 24th of May, 1774, a resolu- 
tion was adopted setting apart the ist of June — the day 
appointed for the closing of Boston harbor — as a day of fasting 
and prayer. The next day the House was dissolved by Lord 
Dunmore. The members at once repaired to the long room 
of the Raleigh Tavern, and passed resolutions denouncing the 
Boston Port bill as a most dangerous attack upon the liberties 
of America; declaring that an attack upon the Colony of Mas- 
sachusetts to enforce arbitrary taxation was an attack on the 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 6/ 

liberties of all the Colonies; and ordering the committee of 
correspondence to communicate with all the Colonies, with a 
view to bringing about the meeting of a General Congress, for 
the purpose of devising such measures as the united interests 
of the Colonies might require. This call for a General Con- 
gress was issued previous to that of Massachusetts, the legis- 
lature of which Colony proposed the meeting of the Congress 
a little later, and before it had received the Virginia resolutions 
to that effect. On the ist of June, Washington, who was still 
detained at Williamsburg, faithfully observed the day of fasting 
and prayer, both by a rigid abstinence from food and by attend- 
ing the services appointed in the church. 

Returning to Mount Vernon in the latter part of June, he 
was called upon a little later to preside at a meeting of the citi- 
zens of Fairfax county. At this meeting the recent acts of 
Parliament were discussed, and a committee, with Washington 
as its chairman, was appointed to draw up resolutions expressive 
of the sentiments of the people of the county, and to report the 
same at a general meeting to be held in the court-house on the 
1 8th of July. The resolutions were reported in due time, and 
clearly expressed the sentiments of Washington and his neigh- 
bors. The arbitrary measures of Parliament were sternly con- 
demned as violative of the rights of the Colonists, and the 
people of America were recommended to act in concert in all 
their efforts at resistance. The meeting also recommended the 
General Congress to address a dutiful remonstrance and petition 
to the King, in which his Majesty should be solemnly urged 
"not to reduce his faithful subjects of America to desperation, 
and to reflect, that from our sovereign there can be but one 
appeal." 

On the 1st of August, Washington was agam in Williams- 
burg, to attend a convention of the members of the General 
Assembly. He presented the resolutions adopted by the people 
of Fairfax county, and "is said, by one who was present, to 
have spoken in support of them in a strain of uncommon elo- 
quence, which shows how his latent ardor had been excited on 
the occasion, as eloquence was not in general among his attri- 
butes. It is evident, however, that he was roused to an unusual 
pitch of enthusiasm, for he is said to have declared that he was 



68 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ready to raise one thousand men, subsist them at his own ex- 
pense, and march at their head to the reHef of Boston." ' The 
Convention appointed him a delegate to represent Virginia in 
the General Congress. His colleagues were Peyton Randolph, 
Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjarrin 
Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton. When the time came to 
set out for Philadelphia, Washington was joined at Mount 
Vernon by Patrick Henry and Edmund Pendleton, and the 
three made the journey from the Potomac to Philadelphia to- 
gether, on horseback. 

Congress assembled in Carpenter's Hall, on Monday, 5th of 
September, 1774. Fifty-five delegates were present, represent- 
ing every Colony save Georgia, whose royalist Governor had 
prevented an election. It was composed of the ablest men in 
America, among whom were Washington, Patrick Henry, 
Richard Henry Lee, Edward Rutledge, John Rutledge, Chris- 
topher Gadsden, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Roger Sher- 
man, Philip Livingston, William Livingston, John Jay, Dr. 
Witherspoon, Peyton Randolph, and Charles Thomson. The 
deliberations of the Congress were held in secret, but resulted 
in measures of the highest importance ; this body, after con- 
sidering the grievances of the Colonies, adopted a declaration 
setting forth their rights, as subjects of the British Crown, 
to a just share in the making of their own laws and in imposing 
their own taxes ; to the right to a speedy trial by jury in the 
community in which the offence should have been committed ; 
and to the right to hold public meetings, and petition for re- 
dress of grievances. A protest against the unconstitutional 
acts of the British Parliament was adopted, as well as a peti- 
tion to the King, an appeal to the British people, and a 
memorial to the people of the Colonies. The Congress pro- 
posed, as a means of redress, the formation of an " American 
Association," the members of which should pledge themselves 
not to trade with Great Britain or the West Indies, or with 
any persons engaged in the slave trade, and to refrain from 
using British goods or tea. The papers draw up by the Con- 
gress were transmitted to England. The Earl of Chatham 

1 Irvitig. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 69 

(William Pitt), was deeply impressed by them, and urged the 
Government to grant the just demands of the Americans, 
declaring that "all attempts to impose servitude upon such a 
mighty Continental nation must be vain." The English peo- 
ple, as a general rule, were sincerely anxious that the demands 
of the Americans should be complied with ; and even Lord 
North, the Prime Minister, who had carried the obnoxious 
measures through Parliament, was in his heart averse to them, 
and upheld them merely at the express command of the King, 
who meant to force his American subjects into submission. 
Having forwarded these papers to England, the Congress, on 
the 26th of October, adjourned to meet on the loth of May. 

In consequence of the secrecy of the proceedings of Con- 
gress, we do not know the exact part taken in them by Wash- 
ington. That it was a leading one, we are warranted in believ- 
ing from the impression he made upon his fellow-members. 
Upon his return to Virginia, Patrick Henry was asked whom 
he considered the greatest man in Congress. He replied : " If 
you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, is 
by far the greatest orator; but if you speak of solid informa- 
tion and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is unquestiona- 
bly the greatest man on that floor." 

Returning to Mount Vernon, Washington watched the 
course of affairs with anxious eyes. Among his visitors 
were two veteran soldiers. General Charles Lee and Horatio 
Gates ; and occasionally his old friend. Dr. Craik, and Captain 
Hugh Mercer, who was disciplining the militia about Freder- 
icksburg, would come to the mansion to discuss the state of 
affairs with him. Washington had a sincere respect for Gen- 
eral Lee's abilities and experience, and gave great weight to 
his views concerning the military situation. Like most of his 
compatriots, Washington had not yet begun to wish for a total 
separation from Great Britain, but desired merely to secure 
substantial guarantees for the preservation of the rights and 
liberties of the Colonies. " I am well satisfied," he wrote to a 
friend about this time, " that no such thing (as independence) 
is desired by any thinking man in North America; on the 
contrary, that it is the ardent wish of the warmest advocates 
for liberty, that peace and tranquillity, upon constitutional 



70 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

grounds, may be restored, and the horrors of civil discord pre- 
vented." At the same time he was convinced that his coun- 
trymen would maintain their rights even at the cost of fight- 
ing for them, and in the letter from which we have just quoted, 
he said : " Give me leave to add, as my opinion, that more 
blood will be spilt on this occasion, if the ministry are deter- 
mined to push matters to extremity, than history has ever yet 
furnished instances of in the annals of North America; and 
such a vital wound will be given to the peace of this great 
country, as time itself cannot cure or eradicate the remem- 
brance of" 

In March, 1775, the second Virginia Convention met at 
Richmond. Washington was present as a delegate from Fair- 
fax county. Patrick Henry, in a speech of matchless eloquence, 
expressed the sentiment of the people. " It is useless," he de- 
clared, " to address further petitions to government, or to await 
the effect of those already addressed to the throne. The time 
for supplication is past; the time for action is at hand. We 
must fight, Mr. Speaker ; I repeat it, sir, we must fight ! An 
appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us !" 

Washington was entirely convinced that Henry was right, 
and joined him heartily in carr>ang out the measures he pro- 
posed. He was one of a committee appointed to prepare the 
Colony for defense. " It is my full intention, if needful," he 
wrote to his brother, John Augustine, " to devote my life and 
fortune to the cause." 

Few of the Colonial leaders now doubted the speedy com- 
mencement of hostilities, and in all the Colonies measures were 
taken for raising troops, arming them, and placing them in the 
field at a moment's warning. These preparations were espe- 
cially vigorous in Massachusetts, and alarmed General Gage, 
who fortified Boston Neck, and prepared to seize all the arms 
and ammunition in the province. The Colonial authorities of 
Massachusetts had established small depots of arms and other 
supplies at Worcester and Concord. General Gage resolved to 
secure these, beginning with the stores at Concord. On the 
night of the i8th of April he sent a strong force to destroy 
these stores. It was his design that the movement should be 
secret ; but he was so closely watched by the patriots that the 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. /I 

march of his troops was instantly discovered, and the alarm 
was spread through the country by messengers. The people 
at once flew to arms ; and when the troops reached Lexington, a 
village half way between Boston and Concord, at sunrise on 
the morning of the 19th of April, they found a number of the 
villagers assembled on the common under arms. Major Pit- 
cairn, the commander of the British advanced guard, ordered 
his men to fire upon this force. The order was obeyed, and 
the citizens were driven off with a loss of eight killed and 
several wounded — the first blood shed in the Revolution. The 
troops then proceeded to Concord, where they destroyed some 
stores. They were soon assailed by the militia, who had 
assembled from the surrounding country to the number of 
several hundred, and were obliged to retreat to Boston. The 
Colonists followed closely in pursuit, their numbers increasing 
at every step from the fresh arrivals of Minute Men from the 
surrounding country. A running fire was kept up upon the 
British troops during the whole retreat, and caused them a 
heavy loss in killed and wounded. Nothing but the arrival of 
Lord Percy with reinforcements saved the regulars from cap- 
ture or total destruction. As it was, all that Lord Percy could 
do was to secure the hasty flight of the regulars within the lines 
of Boston. The total loss of the British on this occasion was 
273 men killed and wounded. 

The battles of Lexington and Concord — if such they can be 
called — put an end to the long dispute between America and 
Great Britain, and inaugurated the Revolution. Previous to 
this, no one ever heard, as Jefferson remarks, "a whisper of a 
disposition to separate from Great Britain ;" but now that the 
shock had come, there were not wanting bold spirits who de- 
clared that the war must of necessity be waged for independ- 
ence. It was now necessary to act with decision. On the 
22d of April the Massachusetts authorities ordered that a New 
England army of 30,000 men should be put in the field, and 
that Massachusetts should furnish 13,000 of these. Troops 
were raised with rapidity under this authority, and by the ist 
of May an army of 20,000 men was encamped before Boston. 

In the other Colonies equally important measures were be- 
gun. The fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown Point were 



72 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

seized by a force of volunteers from Vermont, led by Ethan 
Allen. The cannon and stores captured with them were of the 
greatest service to the Americans, who were sadly lacking in 
such supplies. In Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, the 
people took up arms as soon as the news from the North was 
received ; and in North Carolina a Convention was held at 
Charlotte, in Mecklenburg County, which body, in May, 1775, 
proclaimed the independence of North Carolina, and prepared 
to resist the authority of Great Britain by force of arms. 

When the news of the battle of Lexington reached Mount 
Vernon, Washington was preparing to go to Philadelphia as a 
delegate to the second Congress. Major Horatio Gates and 
Bryan Fairfax, the latter of whom had resolved to adhere to 
the royal cause, were his guests at the time. Fairfax sincerely 
deplored the outbreak, which he knew must separate him from 
his friends. Gates was not displeased with the turn affairs had 
taken, as he was a soldier by profession. Washington's feel- 
ings are well expressed in the following extract from a letter 
written at the time to a friend in England : " Unhappy it is to 
reflect that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a brother's 
breast; and that the once happy and peaceful plains of Amer- 
ica are to be either drenched with blood or inhabited by 
slaves. Sad alternative! But can a vbtuons man hesitate in his 
choice?" He at once set out for Philadelphia. 

On the loth of May, 1775, the second Colonial Congress 
met at Philadelphia. Among its members were Washington, 
Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, John Adams, Samuel 
Adams, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, 
John Jay, George Clinton, and others. The measures of this 
body were eminently moderate. The first step taken was to 
elect John Hancock President of the Congress. A petition to 
the King was drawn up and forwarded to him, denying any 
intention to separate from Great Britain, and asking only for 
redress of the wrongs of which the Colonies complained. A 
Federal Union of the Colonies was formed, and the Congress 
assumed and exercised the general government of the country, 
leaving each Colony free to manage its own affairs in its own 
way. Measures were taken to provide an army, to procure 
military supplies, and to fit out a navy. A loan of $2,000,000 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 73 

was authorized, and the faith of the "United Colonies" pledged 
for its payment. The troops before Boston were adopted as a 
Continental army, and were placed under the control of Congress. 

The next step was to appoint a Commander-in-chief for the 
army. The post would be one of the greatest responsibility, 
and would require not only military skill and experience, but 
the exercise of the highest qualities of statesmanship. There 
were several aspirants to the office, but the majority of the 
best men in Congress were convinced that there was but one 
man in their body perfectly suited to it, and they instinctively 
turned to Washington. He did not solicit the office, nor did 
any clique advocate his claims. A considerable number of the 
delegates at first opposed his nomination, and even some of the 
Virginia delegation regarded it with disfavor. 

At length John Adams, whose confidence in Washington's 
fitness above all others for the post increased as his acquaint- 
ance with him became more intimate, determined to bring the 
matter to a decisive issue. He was one of those broad-souled 
men, who looked beyond the limits of his own section, and re- 
garded the interests of the whole country. Rising in his place 
in Congress one day, he called the attention of that body in 
earnest and forcible language to the necessity of appointing a 
commanding general for the army. "As I had reason," he 
says in his diary, "to believe that this was a point of some dif- 
ficulty, I had no hesitation to declare, that I had but one gen- 
tleman in my mind for that important command, and that was 
a gentleman from Virginia, who was among us, and very well 
known to all of us; a gentleman whose skill and experience 
as an officer, whose independent fortune, great talents, and ex- 
cellent universal character, would command the approbation of 
all America, and unite the cordial exertions of all the Colonies 
better than any other person in the Union. Mr. Washington, 
who happened to sit near the door, as soon as he heard me 
allude to him, from his usual modesty, darted into the library 
room. * * When the subject came under debate, several 
delegates opposed the appointment of Washington ; not from 
personal objections, but because the army were all from New 
England, and had a general of their own. General Artemas 
Ward, with whom they appeared well satisfied, and under 



74 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

whose command they had proved themselves able to imprison 
the British army in Boston, which was all that was to be ex- 
pected or desired." The consideration of the subject was post- 
poned to a future day, and in the meantime the delegates 
friendly to the appointment of Washington exerted themselves 
to remove the objections of their colleagues. They succeeded 
so well that when the subject was called up again on the 15th 
of June, "Washington was chosen Commander-in-chief by the 
unanimous vote of Congress. The result was formally com- 
municated to him in his seat the next day by the President of 
Congress. He arose and returned his thanks to Congress for 
the high honor conferred upon him. He had not sought it, 
but his sense of public duty would not permit him to decline 
it. " But," he added, "lest some unlucky event should happen 
unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered 
that I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not 
think myself equal to the command I am honored with. As 
to pay, I beg leave to assure the Congress that, as no pecu- 
niary consideration could have tempted me to accept this ardu- 
ous employment, at the expense of my domestic ease and hap- 
piness, I do not wish to make any profit of it. I will keep an 
exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, they will 
discharge; and that is all I desire." 

The necessities of the situation required that the new Com- 
mander-in-chief should at once set out for the army, and 
Washington resolved to lose no time, though his promptness 
would prevent him from visiting home and arranging his 
affairs. He was chiefly concerned at the thought of the distress 
this would give his wife, and he wrote to her as follows : " You 
may believe me when I assure you, in the most solemn man- 
ner, that, so far from seeking this appointment, I have used 
every endeavor in my power to avoid it, not only from my 
unwillingness to part with you and the family, but from a con- 
sciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity ; and I 
should enjoy more real happiness in one month with you at 
home than I have the most distant prospect of finding abroad, 
if my stay were to be seven times seven years. But as it has 
been a kind of destiny that has thrown me upon this service, I 
shall hope that my undertaking it is designed to answer some 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 75 

good purpose. * * * I shall rely confidently on that Provi- 
dence which has heretofore preserved and been bountiful to 
me, not doubting but that I shall return safe to you in the fall. 
I shall feel no pain from the toil or danger of the campaign ; 
my unhappiness will flow from the uneasiness I know you will 
feel from being left alone. I therefore beg that you will sum- 
mon your whole fortitude, and pass your time as agreeably as 
possible. Nothing will give me so much sincere satisfaction as 
to hear this, and to hear it from your own pen." 

On the 20th of June the President of Congress delivered to 
him his commission, and the next day he set out for Cambridge 
to take command of the army. He was now in the prime of 
life, forty-three years old, stately and noble in appearance, a 
magnificent rider, and calm and dignified in manner. He was 
the very beau ideal of a commander, and along his whole route 
he was received with delight by the crowds which poured out 
to meet him at every town. On his way he was met by in- 
telligence from Boston of the highest importance. 

Alarmed by the presence of the American forces before Bos- 
ton, General Gage determined to strengthen his position by 
seizing and fortifying Bunker Hill, in Charlestown. His plan 
was known to the Americans, who determined to anticipate 
him. A force under Colonel William Prescott was sent to 
seize and fortify Breed's Hill, which, though lower than, and 
commanded by, Bunker Hill, was much nearer Boston, and 
commanded the harbor more perfectly. Prescott threw up a 
slight fortification on the night of the i6th of June, on Breed's 
Hill, which was discovered on the morning of the 17th by the 
British. The ships of war in the harbor at once opened fire 
upon the unfinished work, and a force of 3,000 regulars was 
detailed to carry it by storm, assisted by the fire of the ship- 
ping. The American force was scarcely more than half as 
strong, and consisted of raw and undisciplined provincials. 
The British made their attack early in the afternoon, but were 
twice driven back by the fire of the Americans. The third 
assault was more successful, and, the ammunition of the patriots 
having given out, they were driven from their works, and 
forced to retreat towards Cambridge. The British retained the 
hill, which they subsequently fortified. The American loss was 



76 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

449 men killed, wounded, and prisoners. Among the killed 
was General Joseph Warren, of Boston, one of the most gifted 
of the patriot leaders. The British loss was 1,054, a large pro- 
portion being officers. The battle of Bunker Hill, though a 
defeat for the patriots, was in its effects equivalent to a victoiy 
for them, inasmuch as it demonstrated their ability to hold 
their ground against the regular troops of Great Britain, and 
inspired them with a confidence which was all-essential to their 
cause. 

It was the news of this battle that reached Washington on 
his way to Cambridge. When he heard how the provincials 
had reserved their fire and delivered it with the coolness of 
veterans at the word of command, and how they had stood 
their ground until their ammunition was exhausted, he felt 
that a weight of anxiety had been lifted from his heart. " The 
liberties of the country are safe," he exclaimed joyfully. On 
the 2d of July he reached Cambridge, and was received with 
appropriate honors. The next day he took formal command 
of the army, which was drawn up for the occasion on the Com- 
mon, about half a mile distant from his headquarters. A ven- 
erable elm tree, under which he took his position at the mo- 
ment of assuming the command, is still standing. 

Congress had appointed four major-generals and eight brig- 
adiers. The major-generals were Charles Lee of Virginia, 
Artemas Ward of Massachusetts, Philip Schuyler of New 
York, and Israel Putnam of Connecticut. The brigadiers 
were Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, David Wooster, 
William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, 
and Nathaniel Greene. At the official request of Washington, 
his old acquaintance, Horatio Gates, was appointed Adjutant 
General, with the rank of brigadier. 

The first duties of the new commander were the organiza- 
tion and equipment of the army, and the reduction of Boston, 
or the expulsion of the British from that city. The first was a 
task of uncommon difficulty. The army consisted of fourteen 
thousand men, drawn suddenly from the pursuits of peace, 
and was without discipline, badly armed, badly clothed, and 
lacking in artillery and supplies of all kinds. In the organi- 
zation of the army, Washington received considerable assist- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 77 

ance from Gates, whose practical knowledge of military 
matters made his aid invaluable. He promised himself great 
pleasure in the friendship of Gates, who owed his appointment 
to him ; but the latter, now that he had a general's commission, 
had his own ends to serve, and regarded his commander with 
a mean jealousy, which was, ere long, to make itself conspicu- 
ous in his conduct. By extraordinary exertions, Washington 
at length succeeded in bringing his force to a tolerably effect- 
ive condition, and Boston was at once closely and regularly 
invested. The army was arranged in three grand divisions. 
One, forming the right wing, was stationed on the heights of 
Roxbury, and was commanded by General Ward ; the centre, 
under General Putnam, was at Cambridge ; while the left wing, 
under General Charles Lee, held Winter and Prospect Hills. 
The winter was passed in the work of organizing the army. 
The want of ammunition prevented Washington from assum- 
ing the offensive, though he greatly desired to do so. It was 
necessary to observe the greatest care to prevent this state of 
affairs from becoming known to the British, and at the same 
time every effort was made to supply the deficiency. During 
the winter, Henry Knox, a bookseller of Boston, who had 
entered the military service, volunteered to transport from 
Ticonderoga to Boston a sufficient number of cannon for the 
purpose of the siege. His offer was accepted, and Washington 
secured his appointment as Colonel of the regiment of artil- 
lery. He proved one of the most efficient officers in the 
service. Towards the last of March, Knox returned, bringing 
with him the ammunition and cannon from Ticonderoga, 
which he had transported across the country between Lake 
Champlain and Boston in sledges. The newly-arrived guns 
were immediately placed in position on the lines, and put an 
end to the long delay which had prevailed in the American 
camp. 

In the meantime an effort, which had received Washington's 
sanction, had been made to conquer Canada. It was entrusted 
to General Schuyler, who collected a large force on Lake Cham- 
plain. Being unable, on account of illness, to accompany the 
invading army, Schuyler relinquished the command of it to 
General Richard Montgomery, and returned to Albany. Mont- 



78 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

gomery pushed forward, captured St. John's on the Sorel River, 
on the 3d of November, and on the 13th compelled Montreal 
to surrender. His force numbered but 300 men, poorly clad, 
and lacking almost every kind of supplies. The capture of 
Montreal enabled Montgomery to supply his men with woolen 
clothing. From Montreal he descended the St. Lawrence to 
join Arnold at Quebec. 

While Montgomery was entering Canada from Lake Cham- 
plain, Washington had sent another expedition under Colonel 
Benedict Arnold to march across the country from the borders 
of Massachusetts to Quebec, and attempt the capture of that 
city, Arnold set out from the camp at Cambridge with a force 
of 1,100 men. His march occupied two months, and was ac- 
companied by the most intense suffering, against which the 
men bore up with wonderful fortitude. On the 9th of October, 
Arnold, with 650 effective men, half naked and half starved 
reached Point Levi on the St. Lawrence, opposite Quebec. 
Could he have crossed the river at once, the city must have 
fallen into his hands; but he had no boats, and in a few days 
Sir Guy Carleton arrived from Montreal, and began to put 
Quebec in a state of defense. A little later Arnold managed to 
convey his force across the river, and to plant it on the Heights 
of Abraham. The garrison declined to come out and fight him, 
and finding it impossible to beseige the city without artillery, 
he moved to a point twenty miles up the river, where he was 
joined by Montgomery, from whom he obtained clothing for 
his men. 

Montgomery now assumed the command of the united 
forces, which numbered less than a thousand men, and on the 
5th of December laid siege to Quebec. On the 31st he at- 
tempted to carry the place by assault, but was killed and his 
troops were repulsed. Arnold greatly distinguished himself, 
and was wounded in the assault. He fell back to a point about 
three miles from Quebec to await reinforcements. He was 
joined in April, 1776, by General Wooster with fresh troops. 
Wooster assumed the command, but was soon succeeded by 
General Thomas. Sir Guy Carleton having been reinforced, ad- 
vanced upon Thomas, forced him back to the Sorel, and in- 
flicted a severe defeat upon a portion of his army at Three 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 79 

Rivers. Thomas died of the small pox, and the wreck of his 
army joined General Sullivan on the Sorel. Carleton continu- 
ing to advance, Sullivan fell back to Crown Point. Thus 
ended the invasion of Canada, the most disastrous enterprise 
undertaken by the Americans during the war. 

In the meantime, the guns brought from Ticonderoga had 
been mounted on the American lines before Boston. The 
British force shut up in that city consisted of about twelve 
thousand regulars. General Gage, whose conduct had failed to 
give satisfaction at home, had been recalled to England, and 
had been succeeded by Sir William Howe, an experienced 
commander. The troops and their officers were indignant at 
being shut up within their lines, by a force of provincials but 
little superior to themselves in numbers, but Howe wisely 
declined to risk an attempt to compel Washington to raise the 
siege. Washington, on his part, resolved to force the enemy to 
attack him or to evacuate the city. For this purpose he 
determined to seize the eminence on the south of Boston 
known as Dorchester Heights, which commanded both the 
city and the harbor. 

On the evening of the 2d of March, 1776, a heavy cannonade 
was opened upon Boston by the American batteries, which did 
considerable damage to the place. It was renewed the next 
night. At dark on the evening of the 4th of March, the Ameri- 
cans resumed their fire with increased vigor, and were replied 
to with spirit by the British batteries. Under the cover of this 
fire a strong column led by General Thomas seized Dorches- 
ter Heights, and threw up a series of earthworks. They were 
discovered by the British the next morning, and Howe, seeing 
the danger with which he was threatened, resolved to recover 
the heights. The attack was ordered for that night, but was 
prevented by a furious storm. When the weather became 
favorable again, the works had been rendered too strong to be 
attacked with safety. There was nothing left to General Howe, 
therefore, but to evacuate the city. This he did on the 17th 
of March, and on the same day the Americans entered Boston. 
On motion of John Adams, Congress unanimously voted its 
thanks to Washington and the army, and ordered a gold 
medal to be struck in commemoration of the deliverance of 



80 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Boston. This success was regarded as an offset to the failure 
of the invasion of Canada, news of which arrived about a 
month later. 

The enemy now spread themselves along the coast. A 
British fleet attacked and burned Falmouth, now Portland, 
Maine, and another force under Lord Dunmore ravaged the 
coast of Virginia. A powerful fleet under Sir Peter Parker, 
and a land force under Sir Henry Clinton, attacked Fort Moul- 
trie, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, for the pur- 
pose of forcing their way up to the city, but were repulsed with 
heavy loss. The Americans managed, during the year, to fit 
out several cruisers, which were fortunate enough to capture a 
number of prizes loaded with arms and military stores for the 
royal army. 

Congress took measures for the active prosecution of the 
war. Supplies were drawn from the West Indies, and a regular 
system inaugurated for that purpose ; powder mills and cannon 
foundries were established ; thirteen frigates were ordered to 
be built (a few of which eventually got to sea) ; a Committee 
of War, a Committee of Finance, and a secret Committee for the 
management of negotiations with foreign powers, were ap- 
pointed, and a better system of government for the United 
Colonies was inaugurated. Finally, on the 4th of July, 1776, 
Congress adopted a declaration on behalf of the Colonies, as- 
serting their independence of British rule, and proclaiming 
that the thirteen Colonies were free and independent States. 
This declaration changed the entire nature of the war. Until 
now it had been in defense of the rights of the Americans as 
British subjects. Henceforth it was to be waged for national 
independence. 

As he supposed that New York would be the next point as- 
sailed by the British, Washington transferred his army to that 
place immediately after the evacuation of Boston. He was cor- 
rect in this supposition, for Sir William Howe, after proceeding 
from Boston to Halifax to land the refugees who had escaped 
from that city with him, sailed from the latter place for New 
York. He arrived within Sandy Hook on the 28th of June, 
and landed his forces on Staten Island. A little later he was 
joined by Sir Henry Clinton, who had been repulsed at 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 8 I 

Charleston, and about the middle of July Admiral Lord Howe 
arrived with his fleet, bringing reinforcements, which brought 
the strength of the British in New York Bay to 30,000 men. 
A large part of these were German mercenaries, who had been 
hired by the King of England from the Duke of Hesse Cassel, 
and who were generally termed by the Americans " Hessians." 

Lord Howe brought with him full powers to settle the trou- 
bles upon the basis of the submission of the Americans, and 
was sincerely anxious to restore peace to the country. He 
issued a proclamation to the people of America, offering a full 
and free pardon to all who would lay down their arms and 
accept the King's clemency; but the proclamation failed to 
awaken the response he had expected, though Congress gave 
it the widest circulation. 

Lord Howe also addressed a letter to the American Com- 
mander-in-chief, styling him "George Washington, Esquire." 
No notice was taken of this communication by Washington, 
and Howe sent him another letter addressed to " George Wash- 
ington, etc., etc." Washington rightly considered that the 
omission of his official title was an insult to his country, and 
refused to receive the letter. His course was warmly approved 
by Congress. 

Washington's force was greatly inferior to that of the enemy, 
and there was much uncertainty as to their intentions. To be 
prepared at all points he was obliged to divide his forces. For 
the defense of Brooklyn, which commanded the city of New 
York, he caused a line of works to be erected on a range of 
hills a short distance south of Brooklyn, and established there 
an intrenched camp. General Greene was placed in command 
of this important position, but just as he had perfected his plans 
for its defense, was taken ill, and was obliged to relinquish the 
command to General Sullivan. Washington retained the re- 
mainder of his troops on Manhattan Island. He erected two 
forts on the island; one which he named Fort Washington, just 
above Kingsbridge; the other, called Fort Independence, just 
below it. Kingsbridge furnished the only communication be- 
tween New York and the mainland, and these works were 
erected for its defense, as well as to prevent the enemy's ships 
from ascending the Hudson. A third work was erected on the 
6 



82 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

New Jersey shore, immediately opposite Fort Washington, and 
was called Fort Lee. Other works were built higher up the 
Hudson to hold the river against the enemy, and maintain the 
communication between the Northern and Southern States. 
One of these. Fort Montgomery, was located at the entrance 
to the Highlands, opposite the promonitory of Anthony's Nose ; 
another was built six miles higher up, and was known as Fort 
Constitution. It soon became evident that the enemy's first 
blow would be struck at the force on Long Island, and General 
Putnam was ordered to take command of it. 

On the night of the 26th of August, the British crossed over 
from Staten Island to Long Island, and the next morning at- 
tacked the Americans, defeated them after a stubborn fight, with 
a loss of 2,000 men, and pushed their advance to the intrenched 
camp which they prepared to invest. Washington hastened to 
the scene of action as soon as informed of the attack. He ar- 
rived only in time to see his troops outflanked and surrounded 
by the enemy, and bayoneted by the merciless Hessians, in 
sight of their comrades, who were powerless to save them. As 
he beheld the piteous sight, he wrung his hands in agony. 
"My God !" he exclaimed with tears: " What brave fellows 
must I lose this day !" He was fearful that the enemy would 
follow up their advantage by an assault upon the intrenched 
camp, and was well pleased to see them halt, and break ground 
for their approaches. The 28th was wet and stormy, and both 
armies remained inactive. On the 29th the British began their 
siege operations. 

It was plain to Washington that the position of the force on 
Long Island was one of great danger. The enemy's fleet 
might at any time enter the East River, and cut off all escape. 
He therefore determined to retreat from Long Island without 
delay. To withdraw a force of nine thousand men across a 
wide, deep river, in the face of the enemy's army and fleet, was 
a task which required the greatest skill and discretion. It was 
successfully accomplished, however, between midnight of the 
29th and sunrise of the 30th. The entire force, with its artil- 
lery, wagons, cattle and stores, was by eight o'clock on the 
30th safely landed in the city of New York. 

Howe was greatly mortified at the escape of the American 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 83 

army, which he had regarded as his certain prize, and prepared 
to seize the upper part of Manhattan Island and cut off Wash- 
ington's retreat from New York. In anticipation of some such 
movement, Washington left Putnam with the rear guard to hold 
New York, and with his main body occupied Harlem Heights 
at the northern end of the island, thus securing his line of 
retreat to the mainland. On the 15th of September the enemy 
landed in strong force at Kipp's Bay, three miles above the 
city, and drove in the American left. Washington held them 
in check until Putnam could evacuate the city and join him, 
after which he fell back to a new line, extending across the 
island, about four miles below Kingsbridge. On the i6th of 
September the British attacked the American advanced posts, 
but were repulsed. This affair, though unimportant, did much 
to revive the spirits of the army, which had been greatly 
lowered by the defeat on Long Island and the subsequent re- 
treats. 

After a delay of several weeks, Howe moved his army to the 
mainland, by way of Long Island Sound. Leaving 3,000 men 
to hold Fort Washington, the American commander evacuated 
Manhattan Island, crossed to the mainland and occupied the 
line of the Bronx, near the village of White Plains. Here he 
was attacked on the 28th of October by General Howe, who 
was advancing from the direction of New Rochelle, but held 
his ground. That night the Americans withdrew to a strong 
position on the heights of North Castle, five miles distant. 
Howe, unwilling to follow them further, marched to Dobb's 
Ferry, on the Hudson, and encamped. 

Fearful that Howe meant to cross over to New Jersey, 
Washington left a portion of his army under General Charles 
Lee to hold the position at North Castle and watch the enemy, 
and detached a column under General Heath to occupy 
Peekskill, and another under General Putnam to hoM the west 
side of the Hudson and defend the passes of the Highlands. 
With the remainder he crossed the river, and joined General 
Greene at Fort Lee on the 13th of November. He was anx- 
ious to withdraw the garrison from Fort Washington, but 
yielded to the views of General Greene and Colonel Magraw, 
the commander of the fort, who believed it could be held. On 



84 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the 1 6th a force of 5,000 Hessians carried Fort Washington by- 
storm, and made prisoners of its defenders. Washington wit- 
nessed the capture from Fort Lee, without the ability to aid 
the garrison. 

Fort Lee was no longer of use, and orders were given for its 
evacuation. Before the stores could be removed. Lord Corn- 
wallis with 6,000 men crossed the Hudson below Dobb's 
Feny, and marched across the country to seize the bridge over 
the Hackensack. An immediate retreat from Fort Lee was 
begun, and by a forced march the passage of the Hackensack 
was secured before the arrival of the enemy. The army then 
began its memorable retreat across New Jersey, closely fol- 
lowed by the enemy under Cornwallis. On the 8th of Decem- 
ber, Washington reached the Delaware and crossed it at Tren- 
ton, and went into camp in Pennsylvania. He had scarcely 
3,000 men with him, the enlistments of a large part of the 
troops having expired on the first of the month. Nothing 
would induce these men to remain with the army. The British 
reached the Delaware just after its passage by the Americans, 
but were unable to cross, as the latter had secured all the boats. 
It was decided to wait until the river should freeze, and pass it 
on the ice. In the meantime the Hessians were stationed at 
Trenton, and held the river above and below the town. 

During the retreat Washington exerted himself to call in the 
detachments of his army. Gen. Lee was ordered to cross the 
Hudson and march to his assistance, and Schuyler was directed 
to send him the New Jersey and Pennsylvania ti-oops in his 
army. Schuyler at once despatched these troops, but Lee 
made such an inexcusable delay in obeying his orders that he 
did not reach Morristown until the 8th of December. On the 
i^th he was captured, while lying apart from his forces. His 
troops then joined Washington without delay. 

Disasters now came thick and fast, and the fortunes of 
America were at their lowest ebb. The people were disheart- 
ened, and the cause seemed hopeless. A fleet under Sir Peter 
Parker entered Newport Harbor, and landed a force on the 
island of Rhode Island. As this occupation of Newport was a 
constant menace to New England, no aid could be sent to 
Washington from that quarter. Believing that all was lost, 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 85 

large numbers of the people of the Middle States began to make 
their peace with the British authorities. The Royalists in 
Philadelphia commenced to show such strength that Congress 
adjourned on the 12th of December to meet at Baltimore. 

Washington was fully alive to the danger which threatened 
the cause, but he was calm and cheerful. During the retreat 
through New Jersey he said to Colonel Reed, " Should we re- 
treat to the back parts of Pennsylvania will the Pennsylvanians 
support us ?" " If the lower counties are subdued and give up, 
the back counties will do the same," was the disheartening 
reply. Washington passed his hand across his throat, and said, 
with a smile : " My neck does not feel as though it was made 
for a halter. We must retire to Augusta county, in Virginia. 
Numbers will be obliged to repair to us for safety; and we must 
try what we can do in carrying on a predatory war, and if over- 
powered we must cross the Alleghany Mountains." Such was 
the indomitable spirit which animated the great leader of the 
patriot cause. He had expected reverses, and they did not 
dismay him. He did what lay in his power to cheer and 
encourage the little band of heroes that remained faithful to 
their colors, and watched with sleepless vigilance for the oppor- 
tunity to strike a telling blow at the enemy. 

The opportunity soon presented itself The Hessians lay 
along the Delaware from Trenton to Burlington, with their 
front exposed, and he resolved to attack them. A failure could 
not make his situation much worse than it was, while a victory 
would go far to revive the hopes and spirits of his countrymen. 
He crossed the Delaware on the night of the 25th of December, 
in open boats, in the midst of snow and floating ice, and the 
next morning inflicted a stinging defeat upon the Hessians at 
Trenton, taking 1,000 prisoners, 1,000 stand of arms, six can- 
non, and four standards. He then recrossed the Delaware a'fid 
returned to his camp in Pennsylvania. 

The effect of this victory was most happy. It proved to the 
world that the American cause was not hopeless. Congress on 
the 27th of December, before the arrival of the news of the vic- 
tory at Trenton, formally invested Washington with dictatorial 
powers, wisely trusting to his wisdom and firmness to lead the 
country safely through its troubles. " Happy is it for this 



86 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

country," wrote the committee, "that the general of their forces 
can safely be intrusted with the most unlimited power, and 
neither personal security, liberty or property, be in the least 
degree endangered thereby." The reply of Washington to this 
communication was characteristic, and worthy of the study of 
every American. "I find," he wrote, " Congress have done me 
the honor to intrust me with powers, in my military capacity, 
of the highest nature and almost unlimited extent. Instead of 
thinking myself freed from all civil obligations by this mark of 
their confidence, I shall constantly bear in mind that, as the 
sword was the last resort for the preservation of our liberties, 
so it ought to be the first thing laid aside when those liberties 
are firmly established." 

He now resolved to follow up his success at Trenton, and, his 
force being increased to about five thousand men fit for duty, 
crossed the Delaware again on the 29th and 30th of December, 
and took post at Trenton. 

The astonishment of Sir William Howe upon learning of the 
battle of Trenton was very great. He at once sent a column 
of seven thousand men under Lord Cornwallis to attack Wash- 
ington. This force arrived before Trenton, on the afternoon of 
the 2d of January, 1777. Feeling sure that Washington could 
not escape him, Cornwallis deferred his attack until the next 
morning. During the night Washington skillfully drew off his 
army, marched around the left flank of the British, and on 
the morning of the 3d attacked and defeated a British detach- 
ment at Princeton, and marched off to a strong position at 
Morristown before Cornwallis, who had discovered his retreat 
at sunrise, could overtake him. Cornwallis fell back to New 
Brunswick. For six months neither party made any movement 
of importance; but Washington, in spite of his inferiority in 
force, displayed such activity in cutting off the foraging parties 
of the British that they were unable to .draw any supplies from 
the country beyond their lines, and rarely ventured out of their 
camps. Thus was New Jersey almost redeemed from the 
enemy. The militia of the State recovered from their former 
despondency, and warmly seconded the efforts of Washington. 
Confidence was fairly returning to the country. 

Nor was this the only effect of the brilliant victories of 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 8/ 

Trenton and Princeton. The war had been watched with the 
deepest interest in Europe, especially by the Government and 
people of France, who were eager to cripple Great Britain by 
the loss of her Colonies. The news of the disaster on Long 
Island and the retreat from New York filled the friends of 
America with serious alarm, and it was generally believed in 
Europe that the patriot cause was lost. In the early spring of 
1777, however, it became known in Europe that the American 
army, which it was supposed had been driven in hopeless dis- 
order over the Delaware, had suddenly rallied, beaten a veteran 
force in two battles, and had recovered New Jersey from the 
enemy. This intelligence produced the most profound aston- 
ishment in Europe, and was received in France with genume 
satisfaction. The Americans were extolled as a race of heroes, 
and the prudence and good generalship of Washington were 
spoken of with the highest praise. The French Government 
was encouraged to grant secret assistance to the Americans, 
and arms and military stores, which were greatly needed, were 
shipped to America. 

Washington spared no pains during the winter and spring 
of 1777 to reorganize his army. He endeavored to persuade 
Congress to discontinue its policy of short enlistments, and to 
institute a longer term. Great efforts were also made to pro- 
cure recruits, but they came in slowly. 

During the fall of 1776 Sir Guy Carleton endeavored to 
follow up the expulsion of the Americans from Canada by 
an invasion of New York. His ascent of Lake Champlain was 
gallantly resisted by Arnold with a fleet of galleys. Gates, 
who had been placed in command of the forces on Lake Cham- 
plain, strengthened Fort Ticonderoga to such an extent that 
Carleton found it too formidable to be attacked, and abandoned 
his undertaking and returned to Canada. This was the con- 
dition of affairs in Schuyler's department at the close of the 
year. 

During the year 1777, a number of foreign officers ar- 
rived in the States, to solicit employment in the American 
army. They came expecting to receive important commis- 
sions, as it was well known that there were but few officers in 
the patriot service who had had experience in regular war- 



88 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

fare. Washington advised a cautious policy in employing 
them. He was convinced, and urged his views upon Con- 
gress, that important posts should be reserved to native-born 
Americans, who, if lacking in experience, had a deeper stake 
in the struggle than any foreigner could have. He also argued 
that to appoint foreigners over the native officers would create 
dissatisfaction in the army, and do more harm than good. 
Congress, therefore, resolved to employ but few foreign officers, 
and that the commissions of such as should be received into 
the service should bear date on the day of their being filled up 
by Washington. 

When the campaign of 1777 opened, the prospects of the 
country had so far improved that Washington found himself 
at the head of an effective army of 7,000 men. Early in June 
Sir William Howe advanced into New Jersey, and made 
several efforts to draw Washington from his strong position 
on the hills, and bring him to a general engagement. The 
American commander, however, was convinced that it was the 
part of wisdom not to risk a general action with his inferior 
force, but held his army in readiness to profit by any error of 
his adversary. Baffled by the superior prudence and caution 
of Washington, Sir William Howe at length embarked his 
army on board of his fleet, and put to sea from New York 
bay. Washington was convinced that the destination of the 
British was Philadelphia, but it was necessary to be certain of 
this before making any movement in that direction with his 
own army. Sir Henry Clinton was at New York with a 
strong garrison, and Burgoyne was advancing from Lake 
Champlain. At length, being convinced that his belief was 
correct, Washington moved his army towards the Delaware. 
On the 31st of July, he was informed that the British fleet was 
off the Capes of Delaware. He at once wrote to Schuyler 
that the Eastern States had nothing to fear from Howe, and 
might bend all their efforts against Burgoyne. At the same 
time he moved his army to Germantown, six miles from Phila- 
delphia. The next day he learned that the enemy's fleet had 
left the Delaware, and had put to sea again. This movement 
filled him with the gravest apprehension, and he began to fear 
that Howe had really sailed for New England to co-operate 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 89 

with Burgoyne. He was about to return to the Hudson with 
his army, when he was informed that the British fleet was 
steering southward. He halted to await further intelHgence. 

During his encampment near Philadelphia, Washington re.- 
peatedly visited that city, and on one of these occasions became 
acquainted with the youthful Marquis de Lafayette, who had 
recently arrived from France to serve as a volunteer in the 
patriot army. Grateful for his sympathy, Congress, on the 31st 
of July, 1777, commissioned him a Major-general in the Conti- 
nental army. Washington met the young hero at a public 
dinner, at the close of which he took him aside, complimented 
him warmly on his generous and disinterested zeal for the 
cause, and invited him to make headquarters his home. " I 
cannot promise you the luxuries of a court," he said, " but as 
you have become ^n American soldier, you will, doubtless, ac- 
commodate yourself to the fare of an American army." A 
warm friendship sprang up between the two, and ended only 
with their lives. 

News came at length that the British fleet was at the head 
of the Chesapeake Bay. Howe had avoided the Delaware be- 
cause of the obstructions and fortifications below Philadelphia, 
and had ascended the Chesapeake as the most convenient ap- 
proach south of the Delaware. He landed his troops at the 
Head of Elk, now Elkton, about sixty miles from Philadelphia, 
and prepared to march across the country to Philadelphia. 
Washington advanced to the Brandywine, and took position to 
dispute the passage of that stream. He was attacked there by 
the British on the nth of September, and was defeated with 
a loss of 1,000 men. He then fell back to Chester, and on 
the 1 2th recrossed the Schuylkill and took position at Ger- 
mantown. Congress again conferred dictatorial powers upon 
Washington, and adjourned to meet at Lancaster, from which 
place it removed to York, beyond the Susquehanna. Wash- 
ington fell back to Pott's Grove on the Schuylkill, and on the 
26th of September Howe occupied Philadelphia. The city was 
held by a small detachment, and the bulk of his army was 
stationed at Germantown. 

Lord Howe, after landing his brother's troops, descended the 
Chesapeake and sailed around to the Delaware to attack the 



90 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



American works below Philadelphia. These consisted of Fort 
Mifflin, built on a low mud island, and Fort Mercer, on the 
New Jersey shore, immediately opposite. Both works were 
armed with heavy guns, and commanded the river perfectly. 
The channel was obstructed between them. Sir William 
Howe, upon the occupation of Philadelphia, detached a part 
of his force to aid in the attack upon these forts. 

As soon as he was informed of the march of this detachment, 
Washington advanced to Germantown, and on the morning of 
the 4th of October attacked the British force at that place. The 
British were being driven back at all points, and the victory 
seemed complete, when the Americans were suddenly seized 
with an unaccountable panic, and fled from the field. The at- 
tack on the forts was made by the British fleet and land force 
on the 2 2d of October. It was repulsed. The British then 
threw up batteries on a small island in the Delaware, and there, 
aided by the fleet, opened fire on Fort Mifflin on the loth of 
November. The work was held until it was in ruins, when it 
was abandoned on the night of the i6th. On the i8th Fort 
Mercer was also abandoned. The obstructions were then re- 
moved from the channel, and the British fleet ascended to 
Philadelphia. Howe threw up a line of strong works above 
Philadelphia, extending from the Delaware to the Schuylkill, 
and went into winter quarters behind these defences. Wash- 
ington withdrew to Valley Forge, on the Schuylkill, about 
twenty miles above Philadelphia, and passed the winter there. 

In the meantime events of the highest importance had 
occurred in the Northern Department. Sir Guy Carleton was 
succeeded in the command of the British forces in Canada by 
General Burgoyne, an officer of ability and integrity. He was 
strongly reinforced, and soon had under his command an army 
of 10,000 men, splendidly equipped and plentifully supplied 
with artillery. Of these 2,000 were Canadians and Indians, 
the remainder British regulars and Hessians. Burgoyne ad- 
vanced into New York by way of Lake Champlain, and sent a 
detachment under General St. Leger to reduce Fort Stanwix on 
the Mohawk. Burgoyne's object was to reach Albany, open 
communication with Sir Henry Clinton at New York, capture 
the forts in the Highlands, gain possession of the Hudson, and 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 9 1 

cut off the South from New York and New England. To op- 
pose him, General Schuyler had a weak army between Albany 
and Lake Champlain, and a strong garrison under General St. 
Clair in Fort Ticonderoga. Washington endeavored to rein- 
force Schuyler from every available quarter, and urged the 
Eastern States to strengthen his army by all possible means. 

On the 2d of July, Burgoyne appeared before Ticonderoga, 
and prepared to invest the fort. He seized Mount Defiance, 
which commanded the American works and had been left 
unguarded, and threw up a battery on its summit. St. Clair, 
seeing that this battery would render his works untenable, 
sent his baggage and stores up the lake to Skenesborough, 
and abandoned the works and retreated. The movement was 
discovered by the enemy while in progress, and pursuit was 
made. The retreating Americans were overtaken, scattered 
in confusion, and Burgoyne pushed on to Fort Edward on 
the Upper Hudson, which he reached on the 29th of July. 
Schuyler took position at Stillwater, on the Hudson, near the 
mouth of the Mohawk, and not far from Saratoga. 

The loss of Ticonderoga and the northern forts was regarded 
as evidence of the incapacity of Schuyler and his subordinates, 
and brought to a crisis the prejudice which had long and un- 
justly existed against the former general. His removal from 
his command was resolved upon. Washington declined to 
relieve him of his command, as his confidence in him was 
unshaken. Schuyler was therefore removed by Congress, and 
Gates was appointed his successor. 

In the meantime St. Leger had advanced to the Mohawk, 
and had laid siege to Fort Schuyler. The fort was defended 
by Col. Gansev^oort. Gen. Herkimer, with the New York 
militia, attempted to relieve it, but was mortally wounded in the 
attempt. Fort Schuyler was left in a critical condition, and 
Arnold was sent at his own request to its relief He succeeded 
by means of a stratagem in inducing St. Leger to raise the 
siege and retreat ; and this important enterprise of the British 
resulted in a failure. 

The Indians belonging to Burgoyne's army committed 
many outrages on the people of the country, and roused the 
entire East against them. Recruits came in to Gates' army 



92 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

rapidly. Early in August, Burgoyne sent a force of Hessians 
to Bennington, Vermont, to seize the stores collected there by 
the Americans, and to secure such horses as could be found on 
the march. This force was defeated by the Vermont and New 
Hampshire militia under General Starke, on the i6th. The 
Americans took 6oo prisoners, i,ooo stand of arms, and 4 
cannon. 

Burgoyne's situation was now critical. The American army 
in his front was growing stronger every day, and was soon 
superior to his own in strength. The militia of New Hamp- 
shire and Massachusetts were t'hreatening his communications 
with Canada. His own army was now reduced to 6,000 men. 
With these troops he resolved to try to force his way to Albany, 
and on the 1 3th of September he attacked Gates' army at Beh- 
mus' Heights, near Saratoga, but was repulsed. On the 17th 
the Massachusetts militia seized his communications with Can- 
ada, and captured three hundred boats at the outlet of Lake 
George, loaded with supplies for his army. After waiting three 
weeks in inaction, he again attacked Gates, on the 7th of Octo- 
ber. The American army now numbered 11,000 men. The 
British were driven back and forced within their intrenched 
camp, a portion of which was captured. During the night 
Burgoyne retreated to a point within two miles of Saratoga. 
Here he was surrounded and compelled to surrender. On the 
17th of October about 6,000 British troops laid down their arms. 
Over 5,000 muskets, 42 cannon, and a large amount of military 
stores, fell into the hands of the victors. It was the most im- 
portant success of the war, and Gates was the hero of the hour. 
That commander flattered himself that the capture was due to 
his skill. It was really the result of Washington's carefully 
arranged plans, and Schuyler's extraordinary efforts to oppose 
a determined resistance to the invaders. Gates reaped the fruits 
of their labors. He imagined himself the great leader of the 
war, and sent his report of the surrender to Congress direct, 
and not through the Commander-in-chief, as his duty required; 
thus offering a grave insult to Washington. 

The sufferings of the army at Valley Forge during the winter 
were very great. Many of the men were barefooted, and their 
marches through the snow could be traced by the blood from 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 93 

their feet. They were scantily supplied with clothing, almost 
without food, and were utterly unable to keep the field. Con- 
gress did little or nothing to relieve the sufferings of the army. 
It promised the troops one month's extra pay, but made no 
effort to provide food or clothing for them. It authorized 
Washington to impress whatever supplies were needed ; but he 
remonstrated against this arbitrary use of power, which he was 
sure would fail to supply the wants of the army, and would 
certainly anger the people of the country. Congress towards 
the close of the winter manifested so much hostility to the army 
because of its appeals for food and clothes, that V/ashington 
earnestly remonstrated against this feeling, and reminded that 
body that the troops were "citizens, having all the ties and 
interests of citizens." It is not not too much to say that, apart 
from their patriotism, the personal influence of Washington 
was the only power that kept the troops together during this 
long and trying winter. Under any other commander they 
would most likely have dispersed. 

The patriotism of Washington was not appreciated by all 
parties. A number of discontented members of Congress and 
officers of the army were anxious that he should be removed or 
forced to resign, in order that their favorite. General Gates, 
might be promoted to the chief command of the army. One 
of the prime movers of the intrigue for this purpose was an 
Irish adventurer named Conway, who was a brigadier and In- 
spector-Geneial of the army. From his connection with it the 
plot is known as the " Conway Cabal." The exact and entire 
truth concerning this conspiracy will never be known, for after its 
failure the actors in it were eager to disavow their connection 
with it. The conspirators did not dare to make an attack upon 
the Commander-in-chief, but undertook, by means of anony- 
mous letters, underhanded appeals to the officers and men of 
the army, and comparisons between Gates' success and what 
they termed Washington's failure, to destroy the confidence of 
the troops in their leader, and to disgust him with his com- 
mand, and so drive him to resign it. Generals Mifflin and 
Gates were very active in this conspiracy, and even Sullivan 
and Wayne were in favor of the scheme of making Gates Com- 
manding General. Dr. Benjamin Rush, another conspirator, 



94 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

wrote a letter, to which he did not dare to sign his name, to 
Patrick Henry, then Governor of Virginia, representing the 
army as without a head, and disparaging Washington as no 
general. " A Gates, a Lee, or a Conway," he added, " would 
in a few weeks render them an irresistible body of men. Some 
of the contents of this letter ought to be made public in order 
to enlighten, awaken and alarm our country." Patrick Henry 
took no notice of the letter, save to forward it to Washington. 
A similar anonymous letter was sent to Henr^' Laurens, the 
President of Congress, who also sent it to Washington. Great 
efforts were made to win Lafayette over to the plot, but with- 
out the least success. 

Washington was to a great extent aware of the plot against 
him, but took no public notice of it. He Avas deeply pained 
by the unjust censure to which he was subjected, but he never 
for a moment harbored the thought of laying down the great 
work he had assumed. He knew that his conduct would bear 
the most rigid inspection ; that the capture of Burgoyne's 
army, which had made Gates the hero of the hour, was due to 
no skill on the part of that officer, but was the result of the 
plan of defence W^ashington had long before arranged with 
General Schuyler. In his efforts to contend with General 
Howe he was under many disadvantages, not the least of which 
was the fact that his army was encamped in a region abound- 
ing in Tories, who refused him any support, and systematically 
aided the British. His army was not equal to the task of 
driving Howe from his intrenchments before Philadelphia. 
Washington knew that the salvation of the country demanded 
his presence at the head of the army. He trusted to time for 
his vindication, and was chiefly anxious that the enemy should 
not learn of the dissensions in the councils and camp of the 
Americans. 

In a little while the action of the conspirators became known 
to the public, and aroused such a storm of indignation from 
the officers and men of the army, from the legislatures of the 
States, and from the great mass of the people, that Gates and 
Conway and their associates cowered before it, and Congress 
became heartily ashamed of having given the plot any encour- 
agement. The only effect of the conspiracj^ was to raise 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 95 

Washington higher in the confidence and affection of his coun- 
try-men. The members of the conspiracy were ever afterwards 
anxious to deny their share in it, and exerted themselves to 
prevent the truth concerning it from becoming known. 

The punishment of Gates came as soon as he was entrusted 
with a command which threw him upon his own resources. 
As for Conway, he was despised by the better part of the offi- 
cers of the army, and found his position so unenviable that he 
addressed a note to Congress complaining that he had been 
badly treated, and threatening to resign his commission. Con- 
gress was by this time ashamed of having bestowed upon him 
such undeserved honors, and gladly interpreted his letter as 
an actual resignation of his rank, and at once ended the diffi- 
culty by promptly accepting his resignation. Conway was 
profoundly astonished, as he had expected that he would be 
urged by Congress to remain in the service. He hastened to 
explain his letter, but was not listened to. Sometime after 
this, he ventured to denounce the Commander-in-Chief, and 
was challenged to a duel by General Cadwallader, who had pre- 
viously charged him with cowardice at the battle of German- 
town. Conway was wounded, and believing himself near 
death, wrote to Washington, apologizing for his conduct to- 
wards him. "You are," he said, "in my eyes the great and 
good man. May you long enjoy the love, veneration, and 
esteem of these States, whose liberties you have asserted by 
your virtues." His wound was not mortal, as he had sup- 
posed, and he soon recovered and left the country. 

The winter was passed by Washington in an effort to improve 
the condition of the army. It was an almost hopeless task, 
and at every step he found his efforts hampered and thwarted 
by the opposition to him in Congress. The efforts of the oppo- 
sition to him, says Irving, " harassed Washington in the latter 
part of his campaign; contributed to the dark cloud that hung 
over his gloomy encampment at Valley Forge, and might have 
effected his downfall had he been more irascible in his temper, 
more at the mercy of impulse, and less firmly fixed in the affec- 
tions of the people. As it was, they only tended to show 
wherein lay his surest strength. Jealous rivals he might have 
in the army, bitter enemies in Congress; but the soldiers loved 



g6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

him, and the large heart of the nation always beat true to 
him." 

During the winter Baron Steuben, a Prussian officer, who 
had served under Frederick the Great, arrived and sought employ- 
ment from Congress. He had been induced by the friends of 
the cause in Europe to resign his important and lucrative posts 
in his own army, and repair to America in order that the Conti- 
nental army might enjoy the benefit of his experience and skill 
as a disciplinarian. He came as a volunteer, and Washington, 
appreciating the value of his sacrifices and the importance of 
his services, induced Congress to appoint him Inspector-Gen- 
eral of the army, with the rank of Major-general. He intro- 
duced into the army the drill and discipline of the Prussian 
service, and made it an efficient force. Congress proposed to 
increase the strength of the army to 60,000 men, but was never 
able to bring it to more than half that number. 

A great improvement was made in the work of providing 
provisions for the army by the appointment of Gen. Greene to 
the post of quartermaster general, which had been held by 
General Mifflin, who had paid but little attention to its duties. 
At the urgent solicitation of the Commander-in-chief, Greene 
assumed the distasteful position for one year, and discharged its 
difficult duties with a skill and precision which kept the army 
so well supplied with provisions and ammunition that it was 
never, during his administration, obliged to abandon a move- 
ment because of the lack of these necessities. 

In April, 1778, Gen. Chas. Lee was exchanged for Gen. 
Prescott, and soon after returned to duty with the army. 

Washington's personal cares were lightened to a great extent 
during the winter, by the presence of his wife. Since the 
siege of Boston, it had been the habit of Mrs. Washington to 
pass the winter at the headquarters of the army. Her presence 
was eagerly looked for every winter by the officers, who en- 
joyed the charm which it threw over the military family of the 
General. 

In the meantime the war had assumed a new phase. The 
success of the Americans, and especially the capture of Bur- 
goyne's army, had greatly encouraged their friends in Europe, 
and had, to a corresponding degree, discouraged the British 



GEORGE WASHINGTON, 9/ 

Government. A determined effort was made in Parliament, 
by the opposition, to force the Government to grant the just 
demands of the Americans, and was so far successful, that 
early in 1788 Lord North presented two bills to Parliament by 
which his Majesty hoped to maintain his authority in America, 
and conciliate his revolted subjects. The first of these re- 
nounced all intention on the part of Great Britain to levy 
taxes in America ; the other appointed five commissioners to 
negotiate with the Americans for the restoration of the au- 
thority of England and the close of the war. These bills in- 
volved a direct surrender of the whole ground of the war; but 
they came too late. 

The conciliatory disposition of Great Britain alarmed France, 
which had been greatly encouraged by the capture of Bur- 
goyne's army. The French Government resolved to lose no 
time in concluding an alliance with the United States, and so 
prevent Great Britain from ever recovering her lost power in 
America. On the 6th of February, 1788, a treaty of friend- 
ship and commerce, and a second treaty of defensive alliance, 
were concluded between the United States and France. The 
latter instrument bound the United States to support France in 
case Great Britain should declare war against her. The King 
of France acknowledged the independence of the United States 
of America, and agreed to support them with his fleets and 
armies. No peace was to be made without the mutual consent 
of the contracting parties, nor until the independence of the 
United States should be acknowledged by Great Britain. 
These treaties were promptly ratified by Congress, and the 
news of the alliance was proclaimed to the army and people, 
and was everywhere received with joy. Public confidence was 
revived by the assurance of the assistance of one of the most 
powerful nations on the globe. In March, 1788, France for- 
mally communicated to England her treaties with America. 
This was regarded by England as equivalent to a declaration 
of war, and the British ambassador was at once recalled from 
Paris. 

In June, the Commissioners appointed by Great Britain 
to treat with the Americans under Lord North's concilia- 
tory bills, arrived in America, and opened negotiations. Con- 
7 



98 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

gress refused to treat upon any other ground than the recogni- 
tion of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, 
and the withdrawal of her fleets and armies from the country. 
The Commissioners having no authority to treat upon any such 
basis, returned to England, having first endeavored, without 
success, to bribe several prominent Americans to desert their 
cause. 

On the nth of May, 1788, Sir William Howe, whose course 
had not pleased his government, was removed from his com- 
mand, and was succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton. About the 
same time Clinton was informed by his government that a 
large French fleet was soon to sail for America, and was 
ordered to evacuate Philadelphia, and concentrate his forces at 
New York. He accordingly sent his sick and stores to New 
York by water, with his fleet; and with his army, 1 2,000 strong, 
evacuated Philadelphia on the i8th of June, crossed the Dela- 
ware and began his retreat across New Jersey to New York. 

As soon as Washington was informed of Clinton's move- 
ment, he broke up his camp on the 24th of June, and crossed 
the Delaware in pursuit of the British army. The intense 
heat of the weather, and the heavy train with which the British 
were encumbered, caused them to move very slowly, and 
Washington soon overtook them in the open country of Mon- 
mouth county. He resolved to attack the enemy at once and 
bring them to a general engagement. General Charles Lee 
opposed this decision, and at first declined to take any com- 
mand in the approaching battle. 

On the 27th of June, Washington sent Lafayette with 2,000 
men to occupy the hills near Monmouth Court House and 
confine the enemy to the plains. On the morning of the 28th, 
Lee, having reconsidered Ws determination, asked for a com- 
mand, and was sent forward with two brigades to attack the 
enemy. Upon coming up with Lafayette, who was his junior, 
Lee assumed the command of the whole advanced force, and 
marched in the direction of the enemy, who had encamped on 
the previous night near Monmouth Court House, and had re- 
sumed their march early on the 28th. Clinton, learning of 
Lee's approach, determined to drive him back, and wheeled 
upon him with his whole rear division, and made a sharp attack 




MARQUIS DE LA FAYETTE. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 99 

upon him. Lee at once fell back to higher ground. A mis- 
understanding of his orders caused one of his subordinates to 
abandon his position, and Lee's whole force fell back in some 
confusion. In the excitement of the movement, Lee neglected 
to inform Washington of his retreat, and the Commander-in- 
chief, who was advancing with the main body to his support, 
was astounded at meeting the right wing of Lee's command in 
a rapid and disorderly retreat. Riding up to the fugitives, he 
asked them why they were retreating, and was answered that 
they had been ordered to do so. Suspecting that the retreat 
had been ordered for the purpose of ruining the plan of battle, 
Washington hastened forward until he met General Lee, and 
sternly demanded of him, "What is the meaning of all this, 
sir?" Lee hesitated for a moment, and Washington demanded 
still more vehemently, " I desire to know the meaning of this 
disorder and confusion." 

Lee answered that the retreat was made without his orders, 
his troops having been thrown into confusion by contradictory 
intelligence, and that he did not wish to encounter the whole 
British army with his troops in such a condition. 

" I am sorry," said Washington, " that you undertook the 
command, unless you meant to fight the enemy." 

" I did not think it prudent to bring on a general engage- 
ment," said Lee. 

" Whatever your opinion may have been," replied Wash- 
ington, sternly, " I expected my orders would have been 
obeyed." 

This parley took but a few seconds. No time was to be 
lost, for the enemy were close at hand. Washington's appear- 
ance had stopped the retreat, and he at once reformed Lee's 
troops on a commanding eminence, and hurried the main body 
forward to their support. The British soon appeared in force, 
and endeavored to dislodge the Americans from their position. 
Failing in this, they attempted, but without success, to turn 
the American left flank. The battle lasted until nightfall, 
and the American army bivouacked on the field, expecting to 
renew the engagement the next morning ; but during the 
night Clinton silently withdrew and continued his retreat. 
The weather was so warm that Washing-ton did not deem it 



lOO AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

safe to continue the pursuit, and the British were allowed to 
regain New York without further effort to check them. 

A few days after the battle General Lee addressed an insult- 
ing note to Washington, and met the reply of the Commander- 
in-chief with a still more offensive communication, in which he 
demanded a court of inquiry into his conduct at Monmouth. 
He was tried in accordance with his wish, and the court found 
him guilty of disobedience of orders and of disrespect to the 
Commmander-in-chief, and sentenced him to one year's sus- 
pension from his rank. Towards the close of his term of 
punishment he addressed an insulting letter to Congress, in 
consequence of some fancied neglect, and was dismissed from 
the army. A few years later he died in Philadelphia. 

A few days after the battle of Monmouth, Washington 
marched to the Hudson, crossed that stream and took posi- 
tion at White Plains to be able to co-operate with the P>ench 
fleet, which was daily expected, in an attack upon New York. 
This fleet, under Count D'Estaing, reached the mouth of the 
Delaware on the 8th of July. Finding the British gone, the 
French Admiral sailed for New York. Lord Howe withdrew 
his vessels within Raritan Bay, and the French Admiral found 
it impossible to attack him, in consequence of the greater 
draught of his own ships. The contemplated attack upon New 
York was therefore abandoned, to the great regret of Wash- 
ington. 

It was resolved to attack Newport and drive the British out 
of Rhode Island. The French fleet forced its way into New- 
port harbor, in spite of the fire of the British batteries, on the 
8th of August ; but as the American land force destined to co- 
operate with it had not arrived, several valuable days were lost. 
On the 9th Lord Howe appeared off Newport harbor with his 
fleet, and on the loth D'Estaing sailed out to meet him. The 
two squadrons were separated by a sudden squall, and both 
were badly crippled. Howe made his way back to New York, 
and D'Estaing returned to Newport harbor. The American 
contingent, under General Sullivan, had arrived in the mean- 
time, and had laid siege to Newport. D'Estaing informed 
Sullivan of his intention to sail at once to Boston to refit his 
ships. He declined to land the French troops he had brought 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. lOI 

with him, and proceeded to Boston with his whole force. Sulli- 
van was therefore obliged to abandon the siege and retreat to 
the mainland, which he did on the night of the 30th of August. 
The French fleet remained at Boston until November ist, when 
it withdrew to the West Indies. 

During the summer of 1778, the Tory and Indian allies of 
Great Britain ravaged the beautiful Wyoming and Cherry Val- 
leys with fire and the knife, sparing neither age nor sex. In 
the fall of the same year, a British force under General Grey 
ravaged the southern coast of Massachusetts with great bar- 
barity. On the 29th of December the town of Savannah, in 
Georgia, was captured by the enemy, who overran Georgia with 
great rapidity during the month of January, 1779. 

The winter of 1778-79 was passed by the American army in 
a series of cantonments extending from the eastern end of Long 
Island Sound to the Delaware. This disposition enabled Wash- 
ington to oppose a force to the British at every important point. 
He fixed his headquarters at Middlebrook, New Jersey, near 
the centre of his line. The winter passed away without any 
military event of importance. 

During the winter it was proposed in Congress to undertake 
in concert with the French the conquest of Canada. Lafayette 
favored the scheme, but Washington opposed it with firmness 
and far-seeing wisdom. He pointed out to Congress the diffi- 
culties of the undertaking, and declared his conviction that it 
was not to the interest of the United States that a power difter- 
ent in race, language, and religion, from the people of this 
republic, should have a footing upon this Continent. " I do not 
like," he said, "to add to the number of our national obligations. 
I would wish as much as possible to avoid giving a foreign 
power new claims of merit for services performed to the United 
States, and would ask no assistance that is not indispensable." 

It was an anxious winter for Washington, and much of it 
was passed by him in Philadelphia, in consultation with Con- 
gress. The Canadian scheme was abandoned, but there were 
other matters equally threatening. Not the least of these was 
the effect which had been produced, even upon Congress, by 
the French alliance. Men appeared to regard it as conclusive 
of the war, and were disposed to relax their efforts to carry the 



I02 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



cause to a successful issue. Sectional jealousies were also 
causing much trouble. Congress had been deprived of its abler 
members, who had resigned their seats to accept appointments 
in their own States, or to enter the army, or were serving the 
country abroad. Their places had been filled with weaker men, 
and many dissensions mark the Congressional proceedings of 
this period. Washington exerted all his influence to heal these, 
and to impress upon his countrymen the conviction that the 
welfare of the common country at this critical period was a 
matter vastly superior to the interest of any State or States. 
"Our political system," he declared, "is like the mechanism of 
a clock; it is useless to keep the smaller wheels in order, if the 
greater one, the prime mover of the whole, is neglected." He 
was anxious that each State should compel its ablest men to 
attend Congress, with instructions to investigate and reform the 
abuses from which the country was suffering. 

The currency was almost worthless, and the troops were not 
paid. Congress had so little specie that the cause must have 
gone to ruin had not Robert Morris, a member of Congress 
from Pennsylvania and a leading merchant of Philadelphia, 
borrowed large sums of money on his own credit, and loaned 
them to the government. This he continued to do through- 
out the war. 

General Lincoln had been appointed to the command of the 
American army in the Southern States. In the early summer 
of 1779, he repulsed an attack on Charleston by General Pre- 
vost. In September the French fleet under D'Estaing arrived 
off the coast of Georgia, and an effort was made in concert 
with it to wrest Savannah from the British. It was unsuccess- 
ful, and after a siege of a fortnight the Americans were forced 
to withdraw with heavy loss. The French fleet then sailed for 
the West Indies, having a second time failed to render any 
real assistance to the Americans. 

In May 1779, Sir Henry Clinton sent an expedition up the 
Hudson, and captured the fort at Stony Point. The works at 
Verplanck's Point, immediately opposite, surrendered early in 
June. Both were garrisoned by the British. The loss of 
these works was a serious blow to Washington, as they com- 
manded the direct crossing of the Hudson, and compelled him 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. IO3 

to establish a more tedious line of communication between the 
two sides of the river, through the passes of the Highlands. 
He resolved to attempt the recapture of the fort at Stony 
Point, and also to drive the British from the work at Ver- 
planck's Point by the guns of Stony Point, and an attack of a 
force sent down from Peekskill. He proposed the capture of 
Stony Point to General Wayne, who at once agreed to under- 
take it. The place was carried by a brilliant assault with the 
bayonet on the night of the 15th of July. It was not possible 
to drive the enemy from Verplanck's Point, however, and Clin- 
ton, as soon as he heard of its danger, moved to its aid with a 
strong force. Wayne was therefore obliged to evacuate Stony 
Point. On the i8th of August, Major Henry Lee captured a 
British fort at Paulus Hook (now Jersey City), opposite New 
York, and brought off the garrison. 

Having resolved to punish the Indians for their warfare upon 
the Americans in aid of the British, Washington sent a force 
of 5,000 men under Gen. Sullivan into the country of the 
Six Nations, in the Summer of 1779. Sullivan defeated the 
Indians and Tories in a battle near Elmira, on the 29th of 
August, and burned their villages, and laid waste the beautiful 
valley of the Genesee. The Indians and their Tory allies were 
obliged to emigrate to Canada to avoid starvation. 

The winter of 1779-80 was passed by the bulk of the army 
at Morristown, New Jersey. The rest of the troops were sta- 
tioned under Gen. Heath, in the Highlands, for the protection 
of West Point and the neighboring posts. Washington's head- 
quarters were at Morristown. The winter was excessively 
cold, and the sufferings of the troops at Morristown were very 
great. 

The most important events of the war were now transferred 
to the South. In December, 1779, Sir Henry Clinton, leaving 
a garrison in New York, under Gen. Knyphausen, sailed south- 
ward with the remainder of his force, and in April, 1780, laid 
siege to Charleston, which was defended by a force of 2,000 
regulars and 5,000 militia under Gen. Lincoln. The siege was 
pressed with vigor : and the American works having been re- 
duced by the British bombardment, Charleston surrendered on 
the 1 2th of May. Clinton followed up this success by a series 



I04 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of vigorous measures, which were so successful that South 
Carolina was almost completely subjugated by the beginning of 
the summer. Early in June, Clinton returned to New York, 
leaving Lord Cornwallis to complete the conquest of the Caro- 
linas. The efforts of this commander were on the whole so 
successful, that Congress resolved to send Gen. Gates, " the 
conqueror of Burgoyne," to oppose him. Gates accordingly 
set out for his new command with high expectations. On the 
1 6th of August, he was badly beaten by Cornwallis, at Cam- 
den, in South Carolina, and his army was broken up in small 
parties, and scattered through the country. This was the most 
disastrous defeat experienced by the Americans during the 
whole war. They lost i,8oo men, including the Baron de 
Kalb, and all their artillery and stores. It completely demon- 
strated Gates's incapacity for such an important command. He 
retreated northward, and managed to rally about i,ooo men. 
Cornwallis advanced into North Carolina, but his movement 
was brought to an end by the defeat of one of his columns, at 
King's Mountain, by the militia of the surrounding country. 
The British army at once fell back into South Carolina, and 
took position between the Broad and Saluda rivers, where it 
remained during the winter. Gates took advantage of this re- 
treat to advance to Charlotte. 

The reverses of Gates utterly destroyed the popularity which 
his northern campaign had won for him. Congress resolved 
to remove him, and at the instance of Washington, Gen. 
Greene was appointed his successor. While at Charlotte, 
" Gates received the melancholy intelligence of the death of an 
only son, and, while he was yet writhing under the blow, came 
official dispatches informing him of his being superseded in 
command. A letter from Washington, we are told, accom- 
panied them, sympathizing with him in his domestic misfor- 
tunes, adverting with peculiar delicacy to his reverses in bat- 
tle, assuring him of his undiminished confidence in his Zealand 
capacity, and his readiness to give him the command of the 
left wing of his army as soon as he could make it convenient 
to join him. The effect of this letter was overpowering. Gates 
was found walking about his room in the greatest agitation, 
pressing the letter to his lips, breaking forth into ejaculations 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. IO5 

of gratitude and admiration, and when he could find utterance 
to his thoughts, declared its tender sympathy and considerate 
dehcacy had conveyed more consolation and delight to his 
heart than he had believed it possible ever to have felt again."^ 

General Greene arrived at Charlotte on the 2d of December, 
and the next day assumed the command of the Southern army. 
The events of his campaign will be related in another part of 
this work, and we pass them by here. 

As the spring opened, the sufferings of the army under 
Washington increased. Provisions became so scarce that the 
troops were driven to desperation. Two regiments of Connec- 
ticut troops declared their intention to abandon the army and 
march home, or seize food by force from the people of the sur- 
rounding country. It required all of Washington's influence 
and authority to restore order, and it was with great difficulty 
that provisions were procured, and the wants of the troops 
supplied. The danger caused by this state of affairs was so 
great that Congress authorized Washington to declare martial 
law in similar emergencies. 

The news of these troubles in Washington's camp reached 
New York, and induced Gen. Knyphausen to undertake an ex- 
pedition into New Jersey. He landed at Elizabethtown with 
5,000 men, on the 6th of June, and marched towards Spring- 
field. His advance was warmly contested by the militia of that 
region, but he succeeded in getting as far as the village of Con- 
necticut Farms. Being unable to advance beyond this point, 
he caused the village to be sacked and burned ; and Mrs. Cald- 
well, the wife of the minister of the village, who was absent with 
the army as a chaplam, was murdered by some of the British 
troops. The militia of the country assembled in such force, 
that Knyphausen was obliged to make a hasty retreat to 
Elizabethtown. The murder of Mrs. Caldwell aroused an in- 
tense desire for vengeance among the people of New Jersey. 
A few weeks later, Sir Henry Clinton, who had returned from 
the South, made a feint of ascending the Hudson, in the hope 
of drawing Washington's attention towards the Highlands, and 
thus enabling Knyphausen to capture Morristown, and drive the 
Americans from their strong position in its vicinity. Knyp- 

^ Irving' s Life of Washington. Vol. IV., p. 184. 



I06 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

hausen was met by a force under Gen. Greene, near Rahway, 
on the 23d of June, and his advance was checked. Finding it 
impossible to advance further, he burned the village of Spring- 
field, and retreated to Elizabethtown. 

In April 1780, Lafayette, who had spent the winter in 
France, returned to the United States, bringing with him the 
gratifying intelligence that a French fleet and a strong body 
of French troops might be expected during the latter part of 
the spring. The first division of the fleet, consisting of seven 
ships of the line, two frigates, and two bomb vessels, with 
transports on board of which were 5,000 troops, reached New- 
port on the loth of July. The second division might be ex- 
pected at any moment. The fleet was commanded by the 
Chevalier de Ternay, the troops by the Count de Rocham- 
beau, who was ordered by his government to place himself 
under the orders of General Washington, in order to avoid 
disputes that might arise from military etiquette. Soon after 
their arrival, the French ships were blockaded at Newport by 
a superior British fleet under Admiral Arbuthnot. 

A few weeks later Washington invited the French com- 
manders to meet him at Hartford, Connecticut, to arrange a 
plan for an attack upon New York. The meeting took place 
on the 2 1st of September, but as the French fleet was not 
strong enough to make such an attempt, the plan was aban- 
doned. Washington therefore set out at once for his head- 
quarters. On his return to the Highlands he Avas met by 
news of the most startling character. 

In the summer of 1780, General Benedict Arnold, at his 
urgent request, was appointed to the important command of 
West Point, which included the posts from Fishkill to King's 
Ferry, and the corps of infantry and cavalry advanced towards 
the enemy on the east side of the Hudson. He had been dis- 
abled by wounds received at Quebec and Saratoga, and after 
the evacuation of Philadelphia by Clinton in 1788, had been 
placed at Washington's suggestion in command of that city. 
There his extravagant style of living soon involved him in 
debt. In the hope of raising the money to free himself, he 
engaged in a number of mercantile speculations, which were 
generally unsuccessful, and merely increased his difficulties. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. IO7 

His haughty manner involved him in a quarrel with the au- 
thorities of Pennsylvania, who accused him before Congress of 
abusing his official position and misusing the public funds. 
He was tried by a court martial, and was sentenced to be 
reprimanded by the Commander-in-chief This disagreeable 
duty was performed by Washington as delicately as possible, 
but he did not lose confidence in Arnold. He did not know 
much of him except in his official capacity, and though he 
knew him to be an able and gallant soldier, he was ignorant of 
his faults of character, which were well known to the members 
of Congress from Connecticut, who had no confidence in him. 
Arnold had long been brooding over the wrongs he had re- 
ceived at the hands of Congress, and the sentence of the 
court martial and his own pecuniary difficulties had driven 
him to the desperate resolve of selling himself to the enemy. 
He sought and obtained the command of West Point with the 
deliberate intention of betraying it to the British. Previous to 
this appointment he had opened a correspondence with Sir 
Henry Clinton, under the assumed name of " Gustavus." It 
was some time before Clinton knew the true name of his cor- 
respondent, and it was not until Arnold obtained the com- 
mand of West Point, the most important fortress in America, 
that the British general held out much inducement to him to 
desert. The man was not worth buying; the fortress was 
worth almost any price. 

The correspondence was conducted on the part of Sir 
Henry by Major John Andr^, of the British army, a young 
man of amiable character and more than ordinary accomplish- 
ments. He was an especial favorite of Sir Heniy Clinton, and 
was beloved by the whole army in which he served. He 
wrote under the assumed name of John Anderson. When 
Arnold had entered upon his command at West Point, Andr^ 
offered to go up the Hudson, and have an interview with the 
traitor, for the purpose of arranging a plan for the betrayal of 
that fortress. Clinton accepted his offer, and sent him up the 
river as high as Haverstraw, in the sloop of war Vulture. He 
was set ashore on the west bank, near Haverstraw, and was 
met there by Arnold on the 22d of September. The meeting 
took place at night, and the morning dawned before the 



108 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

arrangements were completed. Much against his will, Andr^ 
was compelled to pass the 23d in concealment within the 
American lines, and during the morning the bargain was com- 
pleted. Andr^ was furnished with plans of the works at West 
Point, and the exact sum was agreed upon, which Arnold was 
to receive for his treason. During the 23d, the Vulture was 
driven down the river by the fire of an American batteiy, and 
the man who had brought Andre ashore was afraid to row 
him back to the sloop. He was obliged to return to New 
York by land, and at night crossed over to the east side of the 
Hudson, and set out, provided with a pass from General 
Arnold, under the assumed name of John Anderson. He 
changed his uniform for a citizen's dress. 

As he reached the neighborhood of Tarrytown, he was 
stopped by three young men, John Paulding, David Williams, 
and Isaac Van Wart, who demanded his name and destination. 
Supposing them to be Tories, he did not use the pass given 
him by Arnold, but avowed himself a British officer traveling 
on important business. The young men then informed him 
that they were Americans, and that he was their prisoner. He 
was disconcerted, but endeavored to repair his mistake by pro- 
ducing the pass given him by Arnold, and declaring himself a 
Continental officer. He offered his captors his watch and 
purse to allow him to proceed on his way; but they refused to 
be bribed, and compelled him to dismount, and searched his 
person. They found the plans and papers given him by Arnold 
concealed in his boots. Paulding glanced over them, and ex- 
claimed, "My God ! He is a spy!" Andre was conducted by 
his captors to North Castle, the nearest American post, and 
was delivered to Colonel Jameson. 

Jameson, recognizing the handwriting of Arnold, and see- 
ing that the papers were of a dangerous nature, sent them off 
by express to Washington at Hartford. Andre was placed 
under guard, and Jameson wrote to Arnold, informing him of 
his capture and of the papers found on his person. Arnold 
fled down the river as soon as he received this letter, and suc- 
ceeded in reaching the Vulture, which received him on board. 
From his place of safety he wrote to Washington, asking him 
to protect his wife, who he declared was innocent of any share 
in the plot. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. IO9 

Washington having failed to come to an understanding with 
the French commanders at Hartford, had set out on his return 
two days earlier than he had expected. He reached West 
Point, and repaired to the headquarters of Arnold, with whom 
he had expected to breakfast. He was in ignorance of the 
plot, and arrived at Arnold's quarters shortly after the flight of 
the traitor. Being told that Mrs. Arnold was indisposed, and 
that the general had gone to West Point to receive him, he 
partook of a hasty breakfast, and repaired to the fortress. He 
noticed as he crossed the river that no salute was fired, and 
was met at the landing by Colonel Lamb, the commander of 
the fort, who apologized for the neglect to pay him the proper 
military honors by saying that he had not been informed of 
the general's projected visit. Washington then inquired for 
Arnold, and learned that he had not been at the fort for two 
days. Still he did not suspect Arnold. He remained at the 
fort during the morning, and towards noon returned to 
Arnold's quarters. As he was ascending the hill from the 
river, he was met by Colonel Hamilton, who had been 
overtaken by Jameson's messenger with the papers cap- 
tured with Andr^. Hamilton had opened these and had 
learned their nature. Taking Washington aside, he informed 
him of the plot, its discovery, and the traitor's flight. Wash- 
ington at once despatched Hamilton on horseback to the bat- 
teries at Verplanck's Point, with orders to intercept Arnold 
should he not have passed that point. It was too late, how- 
ever; the traitor had passed the battery before Hamilton's 
arrival, and was safe on board the Vulture. Having failed to 
intercept Arnold, Washington prepared to offer a stubborn re- 
sistance in case the enemy should attempt the capture of 
West Point. He was filled with a painful anxiety, for he knew 
not whether Arnold's treason had embraced any, or hov/ many, 
of the garrison. He treated Mrs. Arnold with the greatest 
consideration, and soon sent her to her friends in Philadelphia. 

Upon learning of Arnold's safety, Andr^ wrote to W^ashing- 
ton, confessing the whole plot. He was at once brought to 
trial as a spy. General Greene was the president of the court- 
martial, and Lafayette and Steuben were among its members. 
Andrd was sentenced upon his own confession to be hanged. 



I lO AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Clinton made great exertions to save him, and Washington, 
who sincerely pitied him, would have spared his life, had his 
duty permitted him to do so. The circumstances of the case 
demanded that the law should be enforced, and Andrd was 
hanged at Tappan, near the Hudson, on the 2d of October, 
1780, 

The plot of Arnold was discovered by the merest chance. 
Had it been successfully carried out, the American cause 
would have sustained a disaster which might have been fatal 
to it. "That overruling Providence, which has so often and so 
remarkably interposed in our favor," wrote Washington to 
Governor Reed, of Pennsylvania, " never manifested itself more 
conspicuously than in the timely discovery of his horrid inten- 
tion to surrender the post and garrison of West Point into the 
hands of the enemy." 

The American army passed the winter of 1780-81 in canton- 
ments east and west of the Hudson. Their sufferings were 
severe, and they were neglected by Congress, which was too 
much occupied with its dissensions to care for the wants of the 
soldiers. The Pennsylvania troops, who were quartered at 
Morristown, had an especial cause of complaint. They had 
enlisted "for three years, or for the war." They claimed that 
as they had understood " for the war," to mean that the en- 
listments should expire in case the war closed in less than 
three years, they were now entitled to their discharge, as the 
three years had expired. The Government, on the other hand, 
held that the enlistments were for the whole term of the war, 
no matter how long it should last, and refused to discharge the 
troops. The dispute was brought to an end by a mutiny of 
1,300 of these troops, at Morristown, on the ist of January, 
1 78 1. It was quelled only by a compromise. All who had 
served three years were allowed by Congress to retire from the 
army, and provision was made for the payment of the money 
due the troops. The disaffection spread to the other troops, 
and on the 20th of January, the New Jersey troops mutined at 
Pompton. This outbreak was put down by a detachment of 
troops sent by Washington from West Point. These mutinies 
had the good effect of awakening the country to the necessity 
of providing for the wants of the army, and vigorous efforts 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. I 1 1 

were inaugurated for this purpose. People now began to un- 
derstand that to starve the army was to ruin the cause. 

In January, 1781, the British commander sent a marauding 
expedition to the Chesapeake and its tributaries, under the 
traitor Arnold. Richmond was captured, plundered, and the 
public buildings burned. Arnold then descended the James, 
and took position at Portsmouth, where he was soon relieved 
of his command, and succeeded by Gen. Philips. 

During the early months of the year 1781, the principal 
interest of the war centred in the South, where Greene and 
Cornwallis were engaged in an active campaign. On the 20th 
of April, Cornwallis advanced from Wilmington, and succeeded 
in reaching Petersburg, Virginia, without serious opposition. 
He entered the latter place on the 20th of May, and was 
joined by the troops under General Philips, who had been 
plundering the country along the lower James. A force of 
about 4,000 men had been collected in Virginia, under La- 
fayette and Steuben, to oppose him, and Washington was 
seriously considering the propriety of reinforcing it from his 
own army. 

While still deliberating, he was informed of the arrival of a 
French frigate at Newport, bringing the good news that a fleet 
of twenty ships of the line, under the Count de Grasse, with a 
considerable body of troops on board, had sailed for America, 
and might be expected in the course of a few weeks. Wash- 
ington held a conference with the Count de Rochambeau, at 
Weathersfield, Conn., on the 22d of May, and it was agreed 
between them that the long contemplated attack on New York 
should be made immediately upon the arrival of the fleet of the 
Count de Grasse. The French army was to march from New 
York, and join Washington on the Hudson, and a French 
frigate was dispatched from Newport to the West Indies, to 
inform the Count de Grasse of this arrangement. The French 
army joined Washington on the Hudson in July, and prepara- 
tions were made to attack New York. 

Clinton learned the intention of the American commander 
by means of an intercepted letter. He ordered Cornwallis, 
who had crossed the James river, and was at Williamsburg, to 
send him a reinforcement of troops. Cornwallis prepared to 



112 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

comply with this order, and for that purpose marched towards 
Portsmouth, followed cautiously by Lafayette. A slight en- 
gagement occurred between their forces near Westover, in 
which the Americans narrowly escaped a defeat. The British 
army crossed to the south side of the James, and a detach- 
ment was embarked, and was about to sail for New York, 
when a second order was received from Clinton, who had been 
reinforced from England, directing him to retain all his troops, 
and to choose some central position in Virginia, from which 
he could move northward if necessary, fortify it, and await the 
development of the American plans. Cornwallis thereupon 
crossed the James a third time, and took position at the towns 
of Yorktown and Gloucester, near the mouth of York river. 
He had with him an army of 8,000 effective men, and pro- 
ceeded to fortify his position with strong intrenchments. His 
communication between Yorktown and Gloucester was secured 
by a number of war vessels which were anchored in the river 
between those points. 

In the meantime, Washington continued his preparations for 
the attack upon New York. In the midst of them he re- 
ceived a letter from the Count de Grasse, informing him that 
he would sail for the Chesapeake, and not for Newport as he 
had intended. This decision of the French Admiral put an 
end to all hope of an early attack upon New York. That 
effort must be abandoned, and an attempt must be made, with 
the aid of the French fleet, to capture the army of Cornwallis 
at Yorktown. It was now the month of August, and the 
French fleet might be expected in the Chesapeake at any day. 
Orders were sent to Lafayette to prevent Cornwallis from 
retreating into North Carolina, and he was instructed to call 
on General Greene for assistance, if necessary. Washington's 
plan was to blockade Cornwallis in the York river, by means 
of the French fleet, and at the same time to besiege him with 
the allied armies, and force him to surrender. 

In order to confirm Sir Henry Clinton in the belief that an 
attack upon New York was intended, the defences of that city 
were reconnoitred in force, and an extensive encampment was 
marked out in New Jersey. The troops were gotten in readi- 
ness to march, but were kept in ignorance of their destination. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. II3 

On the 19th of August the movement was begun, and between 
the 20th and 22d the American and French armies crossed the 
Hudson, and on the 25th began their march across New Jersey. 
When the troops learned that the South was their destination, 
considerable dissatisfaction began to manifest itself; but their 
good humor was restored at Philadelphia, where they received 
a part of their pay in coin, and a supply of clothing, arms, and 
ammunition, which had just arrived from France. From Phil- 
adelphia the combined armies marched to the head of the 
Chesapeake. Washington and his suite accompanied by a 
number of French officers, proceeded overland to Mount Ver- 
non. Washington rode on in advance, and reached his home 
on the evening of the 9th. The next day he was joined by his 
suite and the French officers. On the 12th, the party bade 
adieu to Mount Vernon, and rode on to Williamsburg to join 
Lafayette. 

Sir Henry Clinton was not aware of Washington's destina- 
tion, until the latter was beyond the Delaware. The first 
positive intimation he had of the change in the American 
plans, was the sailing of the French fleet from Newport on the 
28th of August. Supposing that the object of De Barras, its 
commander, was to unite with another fleet in the Chesapeake, 
Clinton sent Admiral Graves to prevent the junction. Upon 
reaching the Capes, the British Admiral was astonished to find 
the fleet of the Count de Grasse, consisting of twenty ships of 
the line, anchored within the bay. De Grasse at once put to 
sea, as if to engage the enemy, but really to draw them off, and 
allow De Barras, who was hourly expected, to enter the 
Chesapeake. For five days he skirmished with the English. 
De Barras at length appeared, passed within the Capes, and 
was followed by De Grasse. Admiral Graves was not willing 
to attack this combined force, and returned to New York. 
Clinton, in the hope of drawing Washington back to the Hud- 
son, sent an expedition under Arnold, the traitor, to ravage the 
shores of Long Island Sound. On the 6th of September, New 
London was captured and burned. The militia of Connecticut 
flew to arms, and Arnold was obliged to retreat. Washington 
wisely left New England to defend herself, and continued his 

movement against Cornwallis. 
8 



114 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Cornwallis was very slow to realize his danger. He believed 
that he would not be called on to oppose any force but the 
small one under Lafayette in his front, and on the loth of Sep- 
tember wrote to Clinton, that he could spare him 1,200 men for 
the defense of New York. It was not until the French fleet had 
anchored within the Chesapeake, and cut off his escape by sea, 
that he perceived his error. He then attempted to retreat to 
North Carolina, as Washington had foreseen, but Lafayette, 
who had been reinforced by 3,000 French troops, under the 
Marquis de St. Simon, from the fleet of De Grasse, effectually 
barred his way. Finding a retreat impossible, Cornwallis 
strengthened his fortifications, and wrote urgently to Clinton for 
aid. 

In the meantime, the American and French armies had been 
transported from the head of the Chesapeake to Yorktown, in 
vessels provided by the Count de Grasse. The French fleet 
closed the mouth of the river, and the allied troops proceeded 
to invest the town. Sixteen thousand men were present under 
Washington's orders. The siege was begun on the 28th of 
September. Works were erected completely enclosing those 
of the British, and on the 9th of October the cannonade was 
begun. It was continued for four days, and the British out- 
works were greatly damaged, and several of their vessels in the 
river were burned by means of red hot shot thrown into them 
by the French vessels. On the 14th, two of the advanced re- 
doubts of the enemy were carried by storm, one by the 
Americans, the other by the French. From the positions thus 
gained a destructive fire was maintained upon the English 
lines, which reduced their works to ruins, and dismounted 
many of their guns. On the 15th Cornwallis found his ammu- 
nition nearly exhausted. Without assistance he could not 
hold his position more than a few days longer. 

In the extremity to which he was reduced, the British com- 
mander resolved upon a desperate movement. He determined 
to cross his whole force to the Gloucester side of the York, 
leaving his wounded and baggage behind, and to endeavor to 
cut his way northward to New York. On the night of the 
i6th of October he crossed a part of his army from Yorktown 
to Gloucester, but the second division was prevented from 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. I I 5 

crossing by a sudden storm, which delayed it until daylight. 
The movement being thus defeated, Cornwallis was obliged to 
bring the first division back to Yorktown. He accomplished 
this with difficulty, as the boats were exposed to the fire of the 
American batteries while crossing the river. The situation of 
the British army was now hopeless; its works were in no con 
dition to withstand an assault, and nothing was left to it bui 
a capitulation. Cornwall is submitted to Washington an offer to 
surrender, and the terms were soon arranged. On the 19th of 
October, Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army of seven 
thousand men to General Washington, as Commander-in-chief 
of the allied army, and his shipping, seamen, and naval stores 
to the Count de Grasse, as the representative of the King of 
France. 

On the 19th of October, the day of the surrender of Corn- 
wallis, Sir Henry Clinton sailed from New York to his assist- 
ance with a force of 35 ships and 7,000 picked troops. Off the 
Capes he learned of the surrender of the British army at York- 
town, and as his fleet was not strong enough to encounter that 
of the French, he returned to New York. 

After the surrender at Yorktown, Washington urged the 
Count de Grasse to co-operate with General Greene in an 
attack upon Charleston. The French Admiral declined to do 
this, urging the necessity of his immediate return to the West 
Indies. The French troops were quartered for the winter at 
Williamsburg, Virginia, and the American army returned to 
the North and resumed its old positions on the Hudson. 

The news of the capture of Cornwallis was received with 
enthusiasm throughout the Union. A National thanksgiving 
was ordered by Congress, and in all parts of the land rejoicings 
went up to God in gratitude for the great success which all 
men felt to be decisive of the war. Washington, though con- 
vinced that peace was close at hand, did not relax his vigilance. 
He urged upon Congress the importance of preparing for a 
vigorous campaign the next year, but so thoroughly was that 
body carried away by the prospect of peace that his recommen- 
dations were unheeded. 

The news of Cornwallis' capture caused the most intense 
mortification in England. It was the second time an Encflish 



Il6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

army had been forced to surrender to the Americans, and the 
efforts of Great Britain to conquer America were further off 
from success than ever. The Enghsh people had never re- 
garded this attempt with favor, and they now demanded of the 
King and the aristocracy the cessation of the war. On the 
20th of March, 1782, Lord North and his colleagues were 
driven from power, and a new ministry was formed under the 
Marquis of Rockingham. Sir Henry Clinton was recalled from 
New York, and was succeeded in his command by Sir Guy 
Carleton. A resolution to bring the war to a close having 
been adopted by Parliament, Carleton came with full power to 
open negotiations for peace. He at once began a correspond- 
ence with Washington, which resulted in an informal suspen- 
sion of hostilities during the pending negotiations in Europe. 
In order to be prepared for a resumption of the war in case the 
peace negotiations were unsuccessful, Washington induced the 
Count de Rochambeau to move with the French army to the 
Hudson and form a junction with the American forces. The 
junction was effected in September. 

During the year 1782 great discontent prevailed among the 
American troops, who were unpaid and neglected by Congress 
and by their respective State governments. Washington 
warned Congress of the danger of further neglect of the army, 
but his warning was unheeded. 

While matters were in this state. Colonel Nicola, of the 
Pennsylvania line, at the instance of a number of officers, wrote 
to Washington in May, 1782, proposing the creation of a mon- 
archy, and offering him the crown. Washington at once saw 
that Nicola was but the organ of a military faction, which was 
disposed to make the army the basis of an energetic govern- 
ment, and to place him at the head. " The suggestion, backed 
by the opportunity, might have tempted a man of meaner am- 
bition." It drew from him an indignant rebuke to the writer 
of the letter. " I am much at a loss to conceive," he wrote, 
" what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to 
an address, which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs 
that can befall my country. If I am not deceived in the 
knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to 
whom your schemes are more disagreeable. * * * Let me 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 11/ 

conjure you, then, if you have any regard for your country, 
concern for yourself, or posterity, or respect for me, to 
banish these thoughts from your mind, and never communi- 
cate, as from yourself, or any one else, a sentiment of the like 
nature." 

The discontents continued to increase, and in March, 1783, 
a series of anonymous addresses to the army were circulated in 
the camp, advising the officers and men to take their griev- 
ances into their own hands, and compel Congress to do them 
justice. A meeting of the officers was held on the 15th of 
March. Washington had previously urged the officers in pri- 
vate to a moderate course, and he now appeared at the meeting 
and appealed to them to be patient a little longer, and pledged 
himself to use his influence with Congress to fulfil its neglected 
promises. His appeal was successful, and it was resolved by 
the meeting to trust to the justice of Congress. Washington 
transmitted the resolutions of the meeting to Congress, and 
urged that body to make good the promises he had made in 
its name. Congress agreed to advance full pay to the troops 
for four months, and to commute the half pay of the officers 
into a sum equal to five years' whole pay. Thus did the wis- 
dom of Washington rescue the country once more from grave 
peril. 

In the spring of 1783, news arrived of the conclusion of the 
preliminary treaties of peace between the United States and 
France, and Great Britain. On the 19th of April, 1783, just 
eight years from the commencement of the war at Lexington, 
the cessation of hostilities was proclaimed in general orders to 
the army. The war was over, and independence was won. 

Congress authorized the Commander-in-chief to grant fur- 
loughs to the troops, and Washington freely availed himself 
of this authority to enable the men to return home. This was 
a wise measure, as it reduced the army slowly, and returned 
the troops to the pursuits of peace so gradually, that the 
country scarcely perceived the change. At Washington's sug- 
gestion, also, the men were allowed to retain their arms as 
trophies of the noble service they had rendered the country in 
her hour of trial. On the 2d of November, the army was for- 
mally disbanded by order of Congress. Washington addressed 



Il8 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

to it an eloquent and feeling farewell order. A small force 
was retained in the service, with which Washington occupied 
New York on the 25th of November, on which day the British 
evacuated that city, and sailed to their own country. 

On the 4th of December, Washington set out from New 
York for Annapolis, where Congress was in session. At the 
hour of his departure, the principal officers of the army assem- 
bled at Fraunces' Tavern, near Whitehall Ferry, to take leave 
of him. As he entered the room, the sight of his old compan- 
ions in arms for a moment overcame his firmness. Filling a 
glass of wine, he turned to them, and said with a voice un- 
steadied by emotion : " With a heart full of love and gratitude, 
I now take leave of you, most devoutly wishing that your lat- 
ter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones 
have been glorious and honorable." He drained the glass to 
the bottom, and then added, " I cannot come to each of you 
to take my leave, but shall be obliged if each of you will come 
and take me by the hand." 

For a moment no one stirred. Then General Knox, who 
was nearest, stepped forward. Washington, with tears, clasped 
him in his arms, and in the same manner took leave of each 
one present. Not a word was spoken ; each heart was full ; 
and the veterans did not think their manhood shamed by the 
tears that moistened their bronzed cheeks. When the last 
embrace had been given, Washington left the room, followed 
by all present, and passing through a corps of light infantry, 
proceeded on foot to Whitehall Ferry, where a barge was 
waiting to convey him to the Jersey shore. He entered it, and 
as it put off from the shore waved a silent adieu to his old 
comrades, who watched the boat until it was far out in the 
stream. 

From New York Washington proceeded to Philadelphia, 
where he stopped a few days to adjust his accounts with the 
Comptroller of the Treasury. They extended from the com- 
mencement of the war to the 13th of the actual month of De- 
cember. " They were all in his own handwriting, and kept in 
the cleanest and most accurate manner, each entry being 
accompanied by a statement of the occasion and object of the 
charge. The gross amount was about fourteen thousand five 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. I I9 

hundred pounds stei'ling. * * All this, it must be noted, was 
an account of money actually expended in the progress of the 
war — not for arrearages of pay; for it will be recollected 
Washington accepted no pay. Indeed, on the final adjustment 
of his accounts, he found himself a considerable loser, having 
frequently, in the hurry of business, neglected to credit him- 
self with sums drawn from his private purse in moments of 
exigency. The schedule of his public account furnishes not 
the least among the many noble and impressive lessons 
taught by his character and example. It stands a touchstone 
of honesty in office, and a lasting rebuke of that lavish expen- 
diture of the public money, too often heedlessly, if not willfully, 
indulged in by military commanders."^ 

From Philadelphia Washington hastened to Annapolis, 
where Congress was in session, and on the 20th of December 
addressed a letter to the President of Congress, asking in what 
manner it would be most proper to offer his resignation; 
whether in writing or at an audience. Congress adopted the 
latter method, and appointed the 23d as the time. 

At noon on the appointed day, a brilliant assemblage 
gathered in the hall of Congress to witness the scene. The 
members of Congress were present, seated and covered, as 
representatives of the sovereignty of the Union. The gentle- 
men present as spectators were standing and uncovered. The 
galleries were filled with ladies. Washington was introduced 
by the Secretary of Congress, and was conducted to a seat ap- 
pointed for him. After a slight pause, the President informed 
him that "the United States in Congress assembled were pre- 
pared to receive his communication." 

Washington then rose, and in an impressive manner stated 
the reasons which impelled him to the action he was about to 
take. " Having now finished the work assigned me," he said 
in conclusion, "I retire from the great theatre of action; and 
bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under 
whose orders I have long acted, I here offer my commission, 
and take leave of all the employments of public life." 

He then delivered his commission into the hands of the 
President, who in a reply to his address, bore witness to the 

^ Irvinz. 



I20 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

faithful and able manner in which he had discharged the diffi- 
cult duties of his august station. "You retire," he said, 
"from the theatre of action with the blessings of your fellow 
citizens; but the glory of your virtues will not terminate with 
your military command; it will continue to animate remotest 
ages." 

The next day Washington left Annapolis, and by nightfall 
was once more in the peaceful retirement of his beloved Mount 
Vernon. 

He had ceased to be a "public character," and was once 
more a simple citizen. The change was grateful to him, but 
he could hardly realize it at first. " Strange as it may seem," 
he wrote to General Knox, "it is nevertheless true, that it was 
not until very lately I could get the better of my usual cus- 
tom of ruminating as soon as I waked in the morning on the 
business of the ensuing day; and of my surprise at finding, 
after revolving many things in my mind, that I was no longer 
a public man, nor had anything to do with public transactions." 

The expenses to which he had been put during the war, and 
his long absence from home, had considerably impaired his 
fortune, and upon his return to Mount Vernon it was expe- 
dient for the General to practise a more careful economy than 
he had found necessary before. While he was engaged in 
arranging his plans for this purpose, he received a communica- 
tion from the Representatives in Congress from Pennsylvania, 
informing him that the Supreme Council of their State, in 
view of his disinterested conduct during the war, and of the 
fact that his distinguished services would attract many visitors 
to Mount Vernon to pay their respects to him, had instructed 
them to urge upon Congress the propriety of tendering him 
some national reward. The Representatives were instructed to 
ask if such a step would be agreeable to him. Washington 
was deeply touched by this delicate effort to assist him in his 
pecuniary troubles, but he at once gratefully and respectfully, 
but firmly, declined it. It was his pride to serve his country at 
the sacrifice of his own interests. 

For the first few months after Washington's return home he 
was confined to his estate by a severe winter, but when the 
spring returned he devoted himself with all his old ardor to 



GEORGE WASHINGTON, 121 

the improvement of his estate and to his favorite agricultural 
schemes. In the autumn of 1784 he crossed the Alleghanies 
in company with his old friend Dr. Craik, and visited some of 
his lands which lay beyond the mountains. He left Mount 
Vernon on the ist of September, and returned on the 4th of 
October, having traveled on horseback six hundred and eighty 
miles, the greater part of the distance in an unsettled region, 
where he was obliged to encamp at night. 

This journey convinced him of the importance of putting 
in execution a scheme he had long contemplated, namely : the 
construction of a series of canals from the headwaters of the 
Potomac and James rivers to the Ohio, and from that river to 
the great lakes. He was confident that great advantages would 
result from such a means of communication with the West, 
and he was anxious that Virginia and Maryland should secure 
them. Such an undertaking he believed to be necessary in 
order to retain the West as a part of the Union. Upon his 
return home he communicated his views to the Governors and 
Legislatures of Virginia and Maryland. The result of his 
efforts was the formation of the James River and the Potomac 
Canal Companies. He was appointed president of both com- 
panies, and the Legislature of Virginia gratefully voted him 
fifty shares in the Potomac and one hundred in the James River 
Company, worth in all about forty thousand dollars.- Washing- 
ton declined to receive the shares, except as a trust to be 
applied to the use of some public institution or object. They 
were ultimately applied by him to institutions of learning. 

A large correspondence had to be attended to, much of 
which he would gladly have dispensed with. He delighted in 
writing to and hearing from his old friends and comrades, but 
there were other numerous demands upon his pen. From 
much of this drudgery he was relieved by his secretary, Mr. 
Tobias Lear, who was also the tutor of his adopted children— - 
the son- and daughter of the late Mr. Parke Custis, Mrs. Wash- 
ington's son by her first marriage. He was devotedly attached 
to these little ones, and drew much of his most genuine happi- 
ness from their society. " I have sometimes," said Miss Custis 
in after years, " made him laugh most heartily from sympathy 
with my joyous and extravagant spirits." 



122 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

His mode of life was exact. He rose before dawn and de- 
voted himself to his correspondence until breakfast, which took 
place at half-past seven. After breakfast he mounted his horse, 
which was in waiting at the door, and rode over the estate to 
superintend the labors of the day. At half-past two dinner was 
served. If there was no company he would write until dark, 
or, if very busy, until nine in the evening. At other times he 
read in the evening or joined in a game of whist. At ten 
o'clock he retired to bed. 

He was simple and unostentatious in his manner. " He 
spoke little generally," says Miss Custis, " never of himself I 
never heard him relate a single act of his life during the war." 
His private secretary, Mr. Lear, wrote of him : " General 
Washington is, I believe, almost the only man of exalted 
character, who does not lose some part of his respectability by 
an intimate acquaintance. I have never found a single thing 
that could lessen my respect for him. A complete knowledge 
of his honesty, uprightness and candor in all his private trans- 
actions, has sometimes led me to think him more than a man." 
Mr. Elkanah Watson, who visited Mount Vernon in the winter 
of 1785, wrote of him: "I found him kind and benignant in 
the domestic circle; revered and beloved by all around him; 
agreeably social ; without ostentation ; delighting in anecdote 
and adventures ; without assumption ; his domestic arrange- 
ments harmonious and systematic. His servants seemed to 
watch his eye and to anticipate his every wish ; hence a look 
was equivalent to a command. His servant Billy, the faithful 
companion of his military career, was always at his side. 
Smiling content animated and beamed on eveiy countenance 
in his presence." 

" The reverential awe which his deeds and elevated position 
threw around him," says Irving, " was often a source of annoy- 
ance to him in private life ; especially when he perceived its 
effect upon the young and gay. We have been told of a case 
in point, where he made his appearance at a private ball where 
all were enjoying themselves with the utmost glee. The mo- 
ment he entered the room the bouyant mirth was checked ; 
the dance lost its animation ; every face was grave ; every 
tongue was silent. He remained for a time, endeavoring to 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 1 23 

engage in conversation with some of the young people, and to 
break the spell ; finding it in vain, he retired sadly to the com- 
pany of the elders in an adjoining room, expressing his regret 
that his presence should operate as such a damper. After a 
little while light laughter and happy voices again resounded 
from the ball room ; upon which he rose cautiously, ap- 
proached on tip-toe the door, which was ajar, and there stood 
for some time a delighted spectator of the youthful revelry." 

Though habitually grave and quiet in manner, he could 
laugh as heartily as the merriest when his keen sense of humor 
was excited, and many instances are on record of his being 
surprised into sudden and hearty fits of laughter, even when 
the weighty cares of the war were hanging over him. 

In the retirement of his home, Washington was a close and 
anxious observer of the events which followed the return of 
peace. He was soon convinced that the Union could not hold 
together under the Articles of Confederation. The state of the 
country was very bad indeed, and was growing worse. The 
country was exhausted by the sacrifices and burdens imposed 
upon it by the War of Independence, and it was staggering un- 
der the enormous debt of $170,000,000; a sum vastly out of 
proportion to its resources. Two-thirds of these debts had 
been contracted by Congress ; the remainder by the States. 
The Articles of Confederation were found inadequate to the 
task of enforcing the authority of the general government, and 
the States treated the orders of Congress with neglect. Com- 
merce was in confusion for lack of a uniform system. The 
States entered into competition with each other for the trade 
of foreign nations, and articles were admitted free of duty in 
some of the States which were subjected to heavy imposts m 
others. Some of the States were unable to enforce the collec- 
tion of taxes within their own limits. The British merchants, 
at the close of the war, flooded the markets of America with 
their manufactures at reduced prices ; and the result was that 
the domestic manufactures which had sprung up in the States 
during the struggle, were ruined ; the country was drained of 
its specie ; and the merchants and people of the Union were 
involved in heavy debts. A general poverty prevailed in the 
Eastern States, and gave rise to much discontent. In Massa- 



124 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

chusetts, in December, |i 786, a thousand men under Daniel 
Shays took up arms to prevent the courts from issuing writs 
for the collection of debts. The militia were called out, and 
" Shays' rebellion" was put down ; but it was plain that the 
sympathies of the people were largely with the insurgents. 
These troubles brought home to the whole country the neces- 
sity of a more perfect system of government, and measures 
were begun for bringing about the changes needed. It was 
finally decided to call a Convention to revise the Articles of 
Confederation. This Convention was to meet in Philadelphia 
in May, 1787. 

Washington was placed at the head of the Virginia delega- 
tion to the Convention. He endeavored to decline the honor, 
but was finally induced to accept it. Having made up his 
mind to attend, he prepared himself for his new duties by a 
course of reading " on the history and principles of ancient and 
modern Confederacies." 

The Convention began its sessions on the 25th of May, 1787, 
and by a unanimous vote chose General Washington as its 
President. The deliberations of the Convention extended over 
a period of four months, and were held with closed doors. 
Instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, the delegates 
proceeded to frame an entirely new Constitution. Each article 
of this Constitution was discussed with care and minuteness, 
and with great feeling. The proceedings were so far from har- 
monious that there were several occasions when it seemed 
likely that the Convention would break up in confusion and 
leave its work unfinished. At length, however, through the 
exercise of a patriotic forbearance, the Convention brought its 
labors to a close, and the " Constitution of the United States " 
was perfected and presented to Congress, which body submitted 
it to the several States for their approval. The State govern- 
ments submitted the Constitution to Conventions of their 
respective people. By the end of 1788 it was ratified by eleven 
States. North Carolina did not ratify it until November, 1789 ; 
Rhode Island accepted it in May, 1790. 

Washington's influence in the Convention had been used in 
behalf of the Constitution. He was not altogether satisfied 
with it, but accepted and advocated it as the best result attain- 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. I 25 

able; and the subsequent history of the countiy has vindicated 
the wisdom of his views. He watched its fate after it was sub- 
mitted to the States with great anxiety, though he never for a 
moment doubted that they would accept it. 

The Constitution having been adopted, an election for Presi- 
dent was ordered by Congress for the first Wednesday in Jan- 
uary, 1789. The electors chosen on this occasion by the 
people were to meet on the first Wednesday in the following 
February, and ballot for President and Vice-President. The 
new Congress was to meet in New York on the first Wednes- 
day in March. 

It was the general desire of the country that Washington 
should be the first President. He was aware of the popular 
wish, which was too outspoken for him to be ignorant of it, 
and in his confidential letters to his friends expressed his un- 
feigned reluctance to accept the office. "You will, I am sure," 
he wrote to Alexander Hamilton, "believe the assertion, though 
I have little expectation it would gain credit from those who 
are less acquainted with me, that, if I should receive the ap- 
pointment, and if I should be prevailed upon to accept it, the 
acceptance would be attended with more diffidence and reluct- 
ance than I ever experienced before in my life. It would be, 
however, with a fixed and sole determination of lending what- 
ever assistance might be in my power to promote the public 
weal, in hopes that, at a convenient and early period, my ser- 
vices might be dispensed with, and that I might be permitted 
once more to retire, to pass an unclouded evening, after the 
stormy day of life, in the bosom of domestic tranquillity." 

The election was held at the appointed time, and resulted in 
the unanimous choice of Washington as President. John 
Adams was chosen Vice-President. Washington had ^y this 
time been led to see that his duty required that he should sac- 
rifice his private wishes to the desire of his countrymen, and 
he now prepared to leave Mount Vernon as soon as he should 
be officially notified of his election. He repaired to Freder- 
icksburg, and took a touching leave of his invalid mother, 
whose last years were cheered by seeing her son enjoying the 
highest honors within the gift of his grateful country. On 



126 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

the 14th of April, Washington received official notice of his 
election, and on the i6th set out from Mount Vernon for New 

York. 

His progress was a continual ovation. The citizens of 
Alexandria, his old friends and neighbors, took leave of him 
at a public dinner. Baltimore welcomed him with a joyous 
procession and with thunders of artillery. Arriving at Chester, 
he was met by a grand procession, and thus escorted, entered 
Philadelphia, under triumphal arches, and amid the ringing 
cheers of the citizens. At Trenton, where, twelve years before, 
he had led his little band of heroes through ice and snow, 
across the half frozen Delaware, to strike the decisive blow 
that rolled back the tide of defeat, and saved his countr^^ he 
was met by crowds of enthusiastic citizens, who hailed him as 
their deliverer. He entered the town under an arch entwined 
with evergreens and laurels, and inscribed with the words, 
"The defender of the mothers will be the protector of the 
daughters." The matrons of the city assembled at this arch 
to meet him, and young girls walked before him, scattering 
roses in his pathway and singing an ode of gratitude and wel- 
come. 

" At Elizabethtown Point, a committee of both Houses of 
Congress, with various civic functionaries, waited by appomt- 
ment to receive him. He embarked on board of a splendid 
barge, constructed for the occasion. It was manned by thir- 
teen branch pilots, masters of vessels, in white uniforms, and 
commanded by Commodore Nicholson. Other barges fan- 
cifully decorated followed, having on board the heads of 
departments and other public officers, and several distinguished 
citizens. As they passed through the strait between Staten 
Island and the Jerseys, called the Kills, other boats, decorated 
with flags, fell in their wake, until the whole, forming a nauti- 
cal procession, swept up the broad and beautiful bay of New 
York, to the sound of instrumental" music. On board of two 
vessels were parties of ladies and gentlemen, who sang congrat- 
ulatory odes as Washington's barge approached. The ships at 
anchor in the harbor, dressed in colors, fired salutes as it 
passed. One alone, the Galveston, a Spanish man-of-war, dis- 
played no signs of gratulation until the barge of the General 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 1 27 

was nearly abreast ; when suddenly, as if by magic, the yards 
were manned, the ship burst forth, as it were, into a full array 
of flags and signals, and thundered a salute of thirteen guns. 

" He approached the landing place of Murray's wharf, amid 
the ringing of bells, the roaring of cannonry, and the shouting 
of multitudes collected on every pier head. On landing, he 
was received by Governor Clinton. General Knox, too, who 
had taken such affectionate leave of him on his retirement from 
military life, was there to welcome him in his civil capacity. 
Other of his fellow soldiers of the Revolution were likewise 
there, mingling with the civil dignitaries. At this juncture, an 
officer stepped up and requested Washington's orders, an- 
nouncing himself as commanding his guard. Washington 
desired him to proceed according to the directions he might 
have received in the present arrangements, but for the future 
the affection of his fellow citizens was all the guard he wanted. 

" Carpets had been spread to a carriage to convey him to 
his destined residence, but he preferred to walk. He was at- 
tended by a long civil and military train. In the streets 
through which he passed the houses were decorated with flags, 
silken banners, garlands of flowers and evergreens, and bore 
his name in every form of ornament. The streets were 
crowded with people, so that it was with difficulty a passage 
could be made by the city officers. Washington frequently 
bowed to the multitude as he passed, taking off his hat to 
the ladies, who thronged every window, waving their hand- 
kerchiefs, throwing flowers before him, and many of them 
shedding tears of enthusiasm. That day he dined with his old 
friend Governor Clinton, who had invited a numerous company 
of public functionaries and foreign diplomatists to meet him, 
and in the evening the city was brilliantly illuminated."^ 

The inauguration took place on the 30th of April. At half- 
past twelve o'clock Washington proceeded from his residence 
to the town hall, where Congress was in session. The oath 
was administered by Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of the 
State of New York, on a balcony in front of the Senate Cham- 
ber, in the presence of an immense multitude gathered in the 

^Irving's Life of Washington. Vol. IV., pp. 471-472. 



128 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Street below. After taking the oath of office the new President 
returned to the Senate Chamber, where he delivered to both 
Houses of Congress his inaugural, address. This done the 
whole assemblage, headed by the President, proceeded on foot 
to St. Paul's Church, where appropriate religious services were 
held by Dr. Prevost, the Episcopal Bishop of New York. 

For some months Congress delayed the organization of the 
Executive Departments of the Government, and Washington was 
left to meet the early difficulties of his position without any con- 
stitutional advisers. He had the benefit of the advice of Mr. Jay, 
who had for some time been in charge of the foreign office, and 
of his old friend. General Knox, who had discharged the duties 
of Secretary of War since the close of the Revolution. On the 
loth of September the bills creating the Departments of For- 
eign Affairs (afterwards called the State Department), the 
Treasury and War were passed by Congress. Washington at 
once appointed General Knox Secretary of War, and Alex- 
ander Hamilton, of New York, Secretary of the Treasury; 
John Jay, of New York, was appointed Chief Justice of the 
United States, as he preferred the Bench to a seat in the Cabi- 
net; and Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, was made Attorney 
General. The Department of State remained vacant for some 
time. Mr. Jay consented to remain in charge of it until it 
could be filled to Washington's satisfaction. The President 
thereupon offered it to Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, then 
absent from the country as Minister to France. After some 
hesitation Mr. Jefferson accepted it, and returning home entered 
upon his duties in March, 1790. 

In May the President was joined by Mrs. Washington and 
her grandchildren, and his household was complete. It was 
conducted in the simplest manner, but upon an ample and 
dignified scale. A steward had charge of it, and was required 
to render a weekly account of receipts and expenses, and was 
charged to guard against waste and extravagance. On Friday 
evening of each week Mrs. Washington held a general recep- 
tion from eight to ten o'clock, at which the President was 
always present. These receptions were attended by the fash- 
ionable and official society of New York, and were open to 
all persons of respectability who chose to attend. These public 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



129 



receptions were distinct from the private intercourse of the 
President and his family with their friends. Sunday was strictly 
observed by the President. He attended church in the morn- 
ing and passed the afternoon in retirement. The evening was 
spent with his family, all visitors, save perhaps an intimate 
friend, being refused admittance. 

In the early summer of 1789 Washington was prostrated by 
a virulent attack of anthrax, which for a time threatened to 
prove fatal. While recovering from his illness, which lasted 
nearly two months, he received intelligence of the death of his 
mother, which took place on the 25th of August. Although 
it was not unexpected, Washington was deeply moved by it. 

The new government was called upon to face many difficul- 
ties, the principal of which was the settlement of the financial 
affairs of the country, which was burdened with debt. The 
national debt had been contracted on Account of the Revolu- 
tion, and was in the form of notes of the government, or 
promises to pay. In addition to this, the States had each a 
heavy debt, generally in the same form and contracted on the 
same account. In January, 1790, Alexander Hamilton, as 
Secretary of the Treasury, proposed to pay all these debts 
in full, and advised the General Government to assume 
the war debts of the States. The plan met with considerable 
opposition at first, but was at length adopted. It was also 
arranged that the revenues of the country should be divided 
between the Federal and State governments as follows : As the 
control of commerce had passed into the hands of Congress, the 
revenue derived from the duties levied upon articles imported 
into the Union was to be applied to the uses of the General 
Government. The proceeds of the direct taxes upon real 
estate and other property, which could be levied only by the 
respective States within their own limits, was to be used for 
the expenses of those States. 

It had been for some time considered desirable to remove the 
seat of the Federal Government to some point more central 
than New York, and which could be placed under the supreme 
control of Congress. A number of sites for the new Capital 
were proposed. The South had earnestly desired that it should- 
be located on the Potomac, near Georgetown, and in order to 
9 



130 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

obtain this settlement, the Southern delegates acceded to Ham- 
ilton's plan for the assumption of the State debts by Congress; 
the Northern delegates, in return for this support, voting in 
favor of the location of the Federal Capital on the Potomac. 
In 1 790 it was resolved by Congress that the seat of govern- 
ment be fixed at Philadelphia for ten years, and that in 1800 
it be removed to a new city, to be built on the banks of the 
Potomac. A Federal District, ten miles square, was obtained 
by cession from Virginia and Maryland, and was placed under 
the sole control of Congress. It was called the District of 
Columbia — the foundations of a new city, named " Washing- 
ton," were laid on the left bank of the Potomac, a short distance 
below the falls of that river, and buildings for the accommoda- 
tion of the General Government were begun and were pushed 
forward as rapidily as possible. 

The General Governiiient was removed to Philadelphia in 
1 79 1, and in December of that year the second Congress began 
its sessions in that city. The principal measure of this year 
was the establishment of the Bank of the United States, in 
accordance with the recommendations of Alexander Hamilton. 
The bank was chartered for twenty years, and its capital was 
$10,000,000, of which the Government took two millions, and 
private individuals the remainder. The measure was approved 
by Washington, but was not carried through Congress without 
considerable opposition. The establishment of the Bank was 
very beneficial to the Government, as well as to the general 
interests of the country. The notes of the Bank were payable 
in gold and silver upon presentation at its counter. 

The Indians of the Northwest had been very troublesome 
for .some time. They committed innumerable outrages along 
the Ohio, and almost put a stop to trade upon its waters by 
attacking and plundering the flat-boats of the emigrants and 
traders which were constantly descending the river. Washing- 
ton resolved to put a stop to their outrages, and General 
Harmer was sent against them with a considerable force in 
1790, but was defeated with great loss. In 1791, General St. 
Clair, the Governor of the Northwest territory was placed by 
Washington in command of an expedition against the savages. 
Summoning him to a personal interview, the President gave 




he Bronze Door in the National Capitol Connmemorating the Events of the 
■ Life of George Washington. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. I3I 

St. Clair his final instructions. "You have your instructions 
from thj Secretary of War," said the President. "I had a 
strict eye to them, and will add but one word — Beware of a 
surprise. You know how the Indians fight. I repeat it — 
Beware of a surprise." St. Clair departed, and about the mid- 
dle of September set out from Fort Washington, now Cincin- 
nati, with a force of 2,000 men. Near the headwaters of the 
Wabash he was surprised and defeated by an Indian force 
under Little Turtle, a famous chief of the Miamis. The wreck 
of his army fled to Fort Washington, and the frontier was once 
more defenseless. 

The news of St. Clair's defeat reached Washington while he 
was entertaining a number of guests at dinner. He retained 
his calmness until his guests had departed, and he was left 
alone with his secretary, Mr. Lear. " Taking a seat on the 
sofa, he told Mr. Lear to sit down. The latter had scarce time 
to notice that he was extremely agitated, when he broke out 
suddenly : ' It's all over ! St. Clair's defeated — routed ; the offi- 
cers nearly all killed, the men by wholesale ; the rout complete; 
too shocking to think of — and a surprise into the bargain !' 
Then pausing and rising from the sofa he walked up and down 
the room in silence, violently agitated, but saying nothing. 
When near the door he stopped short, stood still for a few 
moments, when there was another terrible explosion of wrath. 
' Yes,' exclaimed he, ' here, on this very spot I took leave 
of him ; I wished him success and honor. "You have your in- 
structions from the Secretary of War," said I ; " I had a strict eye 
to them, and will add but one word, Beivare of a surprise ! You 
know how the Indians fight us. I repeat it, Beivare of a sur- 
prise" He went off with that, my last warning, thrown into his 
ears. And yet ! ! To suffer that army to be cut to pieces, 
hacked, butchered, tomahawked, by a surprise, the very thing 
I guarded him against — O, God! O, God!' exclaimed he, 
throwing up his hands, while his very frame shook with emo- 
tion, ' he's worse than a murderer ! How can he answer it to 
his country ! The blood of the slain is upon him — the curse of 
widows and orphans — the curse of heaven !' 

" Mr. Lear remained speechless ; awed into silence by the 
appalling tones in which this torrent of invective was poured 



132 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

forth. The paroxysm passed by. Washington again sat down 
on the sofa ; he was silent — apparently uncomfortable, as if 
conscious of the ungovernable burst of passion which had over- 
come him. ' This must not go* beyond this room,' said he at 
length in subdued and altered tone ; — there was another and a 
longer pause — then, in a tone quite low : * General St. Clair 
shall have justice,' said he, * I looked hastily through the dis- 
patches ; saw the whole disaster, but not all the particulars. I 
will receive him without displeasure ; I will hear him without 
prejudice ; he shall have full justice.' "^ 

Washington kept his word. He removed St. Clair from his 
command; but, having investigated the disaster, did justice to 
his bravery and his misfortunes. A Committee of Congress 
having made a similar investigation, returned a report explicitly 
exonerating General St. Clair. Washington continued to 
honor him with his friendship and confidence. 

After St. Clair's defeat. General Anthony Wayne was placed 
in command of the Western army. In the summer of 1794 he 
marched into the Indian country, laid it waste, and defeated the 
Indian tribes in the battle of the Maumee on the 20th of 
August. In the summer of 1795 the savages, cowed by their 
defeat, entered into a treaty with the United States, by which 
they ceded all the southern and eastern part of Ohio to the 
whites, and withdrew further westward. 

The Cabinet was not harmonious. Jefferson and Hamilton 
had quarreled. The former was sustained by the Attorney 
General ; the latter by his old comrade, the Secretary of War. 
The quarrel had spread to the country, and the rival secretaries 
had become the heads of the two parties which divided the 
country. Hamilton's party was known as the Federalist ; Jef- 
ferson's supporters were becoming known as Republicans. The 
quarrel took an exceedingly bitter form, both in the Cabinet 
and out of it, and caused Washington the greatest annoyance. 
He was weary of public life, and looked forward with eagerness 
to the close of his term, when he meant to retire from office 
and seek the repose of his beloved Mount Vernon. Jefferson 
and Madison, the latter then a prominent member of Congress, 

^Irw'mg's Life of IVashinglon. Vol. V., pp. I02-103 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. I 33 

earnestly entreated Washington to reconsider his determination, 
and serve another term, urging upon him the importance to the 
country of his continuing in the presidency. Hamilton and 
Randolph added their entreaties, and other friends joined in the 
appeal; and after a long and painful hesitation, Washington 
consented to be a candidate for re-election. He had no oppo- 
nent to divide the popular vote, and received the unanimous 
vote of the Electors. He entered upon his second term on the 
4th of March, 1793. 

Shortly after the commencement of Washington's presidency, 
the French Revolution broke out, and drew upon France the 
attention of the whole civilized world. The events of the great 
struggle were watched with the deepest interest in America, for 
the nation cherished the warmest sentiments of gratitude to 
France for her aid in the war of independence. The Republi- 
can party favored an alliance with the French Republic, but 
Washington and the greater part of the Cabinet were resolved 
to take no part in European quarrels. As time passed on, the 
excesses of the revolutionists shocked the public sentiment of 
America, and the events of the Reign of Terror cooled the zeal 
of many of the most ardent friends of the French Republic. 
Party feeling ran high upon the subject, however, and the 
discussions were still very bitter, when M. Edmond Charles 
Genet, or " Citizen Genet," as he was generally styled, arrived 
in the United States, in 1793, as Minister from the French 
Republic. He brought the news that France had declared war 
against Great Britain. He was well received by a large part 
of the people, who were anxious that the United States should 
form a new alliance with France, and engage in a new war with 
England. The President and his Cabinet were unmoved by 
this demand, and a proclamation was issued declaring the neu- 
trality of the United States in the war between Great Britain 
and France, and warning the American people to refrain from 
the commission of acts inconsistent with this neutrality. The 
firmness of Washington saved the country from a new and 
most disastrous war, which it was its duty as well as its interest 
to avoid. 

Genet, encouraged by the .sympathy of the friends of France, 
was resolved to embroil the United States with Great Britain to 



134 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

such an extent that they would be compelled to make common 
cause with France. He therefore began to fit out privateers 
from American ports against the commerce of England. He 
was warned by the Government that he was transcending his 
privileges as the Minister of a friendly power, but paid no 
attention to this rebuke. His partisans now took a more 
determined stand against the policy of the Government, and 
the determination of President Washington not to interfere in 
the quarrels of Europe was vehemently assailed. His personal 
motives were traduced, and he was subjected to an amount of 
personal misrepresentation and abuse which disgusted him with 
his office. 

Genet was greatly deceived by these clamors, which he mis- 
took for the sentiments of the American people, and had the 
folly to suppose that they would sustain him against their own 
government. He now took the bold step of authorizing the 
French Consuls in American ports to receive and sell prizes 
taken by the French cruisers from the English, with whom the 
United States were at peace. He also contemplated the raising 
of a force in Georgia and the Carolinas for the purpose of seiz- 
ing Florida, and another in Kentucky for the conquest of 
Louisiana, both of which regions were held by Spain, a power 
friendly to the United States. Finally his insolence induced 
him to declare his intention to appeal from the President to the 
people. This audacity aroused a storm of popular indignation, 
and meetings were held all over the country endorsing the 
course of the President. At length, Washington brought the 
matter to a close by demanding of the French Government the 
recall of M. Genet. His successor was appointed in 1794. 
Genet did not return to France, but became a citizen of the 
United States. 

The impunity with which Genet had braved the Federal 
Government gave rise to a fear that it was not strong enough 
to enforce its authority, although it had compelled the insolent 
minister to confine his action to his proper sphere. An out- 
break now occurred which showed that the Government was 
possessed of sufficient power to preserve internal peace. The 
western part of Pennsylvania had been settled chiefly by a 
hardy population of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who had by 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. I 35 

their determined efforts converted the wilderness into a region 
of thriving farms and orchards. Grain, apples and peaches 
were the staple products. The grain was distilled into whisky, 
and the fruits into brandies. One of Hamilton's favorite 
schemes for raising a revenue was the imposition of an excise 
duty upon whisky. This tax was generally unpopular through- 
out the country, but was especially so in the four western 
counties of Pennsylvania. The settlers of this region organized 
themselves in secret societies, for the purpose of resisting the 
tax, and at length, in 1792, encouraged by the embarrassments 
with which the Federal Government was contending, rose in 
open rebellion against the Government, refused to pay the tax, 
and drove off the excise officers. The best men in the western 
counties were engaged in the rebellion, and it was proposed to 
separate from Pennsylvania and form a new State. Nearly 
seven thousand men assembled under arms. Matters remained 
in this troubled condition for about two years. Washington 
was keenly alive to the necessity of maintaining the power of the 
Government, and at the same time was anxious to settle the 
difficulty without a resort to force, if possible. At last, finding 
his efforts in vain, he assembled a strong body of troops and 
directed it towards the insurgent counties to compel submission. 
At the same time he set out from Philadelphia to join the army, 
to conduct its operations. Upon the appearance of the troops, 
the leaders of the movement fled, and the " Whisky Insurrec- 
tion " suddenly came to an end. This vigorous action of the 
President greatly added to the strength of the Federal Govern- 
ment. 

The British Government failed to appreciate the fidelity with 
which Washington sought to discharge his duty of neutrality. 
Its conduct toward the United States was of such a character 
that there was constant danger of a new war between the two 
countries. By the Treaty of Paris which closed the Revolution, 
Great Britain had agreed to surrender the frontier posts held by 
her forces within the limits of the United States. Thus far she 
had failed to do so, and they were still held by British garri- 
sons, and constituted so many centres for the hostile operations 
of the Indians against the American settlements. The English 
Governm.ent now proceeded to another act of aggression. 



136 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Orders were issued to the British Naval officers to seize and 
detain all vessels laden with French goods, or with provisions 
for any of the French colonies. As American ships were 
largely engaged in trade with France and her colonies, this 
order threatened the commerce of the States with ruin, which 
was plainly the end designed by Great Britain. These acts 
aroused a feeling of bitter hostility on the part of the Ameri- 
cans towards their old enemy, and the country was ripe for 
war. The Republic was yet too young and feeble to engage in 
another war; and peace was of vital importance to it. Wash- 
ington appreciated this necessity, and his constant policy was 
to avoid as far as possible all dangerous complications with 
foreign nations. The conduct of Great Britain could not be 
ignored, however, and if an amicable and honorable settlement 
of the disputes with her could not be had, war was inevitable. 

In order that all peaceful means might be tried, the President 
induced the Chief Justice, Mr. Jay, to resign his high office and 
undertake the mission to England, for the purpose of settling 
the disputes with that country by treaty. Mr. Jay was emi- 
nently qualified for the task by his high and conservative 
character, as well as by his great talents and experience in 
political matters. He was received in England with great 
respect, and in the course of a few months succeeded in nego- 
tiating a treaty, which was forwarded to America and submitted 
by the President to the Senate for ratification. By the terms 
of this treaty Great Britain agreed to give up the western posts 
within two years, to grant to American vessels the privilege of 
trading with the West Indies upon certain conditions, and to 
admit American ships free of restrictions to the ports of Great 
Britain and the English East India possessions. On the other 
hand, provision was made by the United States for the collection 
of debts due British merchants by American citizens. 

The treaty pleased no party, and gave great offence to the 
enemies of the Administration. Mr. Jay himself was not sat- 
tisfied with it, but both he and Washington saw that it was all 
that could be gained from Great Britain at the time, and for 
this reason the President threw all his influence in favor of its 
adoption. The treaty met with very great opposition in the 
Senate, and subjected the President to a great deal of adverse 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 1 37 

criticism throughout the country. The Senate, after a fort- 
night's debate in secret session, advised the adoption of the 
treaty. It was promptly ratified by the President, and, 
imperfect as it was, secured a number of years of peace to 
the country at this critical period of its history. 

The close of the President's second term was now rapidly 
approaching, and Washington looked forward to it with feel- 
ings of the greatest longing. He was wearied with the quarrels 
of political life which raged around him, and anxious for repose. 
Jefferson, Hamilton, Knox and Randolph had resigned from 
the Cabinet. Their successors were not to the President what 
they had been. Though deeply pained by the denunciations 
which were leveled at him by the press and speakers of the 
opposition, Washington had pursued with firmness the course 
he had marked out for himself, trusting to the good sense of 
his countrymen to do him justice in the end. He now felt 
that he had given to his country all that she had the right to 
demand of him, and that he was entitled to claim his remaining 
years for himself There was ^eat anxiety that he should 
consent to serve a third term, but he was firm in the resolution 
he had taken; and, in September, 1796, issued a Farewell Ad- 
dress to the people of the United States, in which he announced 
his intention to retire from public life at the close of his second 
term of office, and delivered to his countrymen such counsels 
and admonitions as he deemed suited to their present needs 
and future guidance. It was the warning of a father to his 
children engaged in a difficult and all-important undertaking 

The publication of the Address had a most happy effect. It 
put an end to the partisan hostility which had pursued the 
President, recalled to the people of the Union the great and 
unselfish services of Washington, and enabled them to see him 
in his true character. The gratit^^de of the nation burst forth 
in a mighty stream, and from every quarter came evidences of 
the affection and veneration of the American people for their 
great leader. Both Houses of Congress adopted replies to the 
farewell address, expressing their unshaken confidence in the 
wisdom and integrity of Washington, and during the winter of 
1796-97 nearly all the State legislatures adopted similar reso- 
lutions. 



138 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

At the elections in the fall of 1796, John Adams was chosen 
President. He was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1797, 
and immediately afterwards Washington set out from Phila- 
delphia for Mount Vernon, accompanied by Mrs. Washington, 
Miss Nellie Custis and George Washington Lafayette, who 
had been sent over from France and placed in the care of his 
father's friend during the captivity of the Marquis. 

From the retirement of his beloved home Washington could 
look back with pride over his administration of the Presidency. 
It had been eminently successful. When he entered upon the 
duties of the office the Government was new and untried, and 
its best friends doubted its ability to maintain its existence ; the 
finances were in confusion and the country was burdened with 
debt ; the disputes with Great Britain threatened to involve the 
country in a new war ; and the authority of the General Govern- 
ment was uncertain and scarcely recognized at home. When 
he left office the state of affairs was very different. The 
government had been severely tested, and had been found equal 
to any demand upon it ; the'^nances had been placed upon a 
safe and healthy footing, and the debt of the country had been 
adjusted to the satisfaction of all the parties concerned in it. 
The disputes with England had been arranged, and the country, 
no longer threatened with war, was free to devote its energies 
to its improvement. Industry and commerce were advancing 
rapidly. The exports from the United States had grown from 
nineteen millions to over fifty-six millions of dollars per annum, 
and the imports had increased proportionately. The rule of 
non-interference in European quarrels and of cultivating friendly 
relations with all the world, had become the settled policy of 
the Republic, and its wisdom had been amply vindicated. 

Washington turned with delight to the tasks which awaited 
him at Mount Vernon, thoiigh he did not cease to watch the 
course of public affairs with deep interest. The homestead had 
come to need extensive repairs during the long absence of the 
master, and immediately upon his arrival the masons, joiners, 
plasterers and painters were set to work to make the necessary 
changes. " To make and sell a little flour annually," he writes 
in a happy vein to his friend Oliver Wolcott, " to repair houses 
fast going to ruin, to build one for the security of my papers of 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 139 

a public nature, and to amuse myself in agricultural and rural 
pursuits, will constitute employment for the k\v years I have 
to remain on this terrestrial globe. If, also, I could now and 
then meet the friends I esteem, it would fill the measure and 
add zest to my enjoyments ; but, if ever this happens, it must 
be under my own vine and fig-tree, as I do not think it probable 
that I shall go beyond twenty miles from them." 

The retirement for which Washington so much longed he was 
not permitted to enjoy in its fullest sense. Visitors were con- 
stantly arriving at Mount Vernon. "At dinner," wrote Washing- 
ton to Mr. McHenry, "I rarely miss seeing strange faces, come, 
as they say, out of respect to me. Pray, would not the word 
curiosity answer as well? And how different this from having 
a few social friends at a cheerful board." The number oi" these 
visitors soon became so great as to seriously interfere with the 
daily duties of the host, and he brought his nephew Lawrence 
Lewis to Mount Vernon to relieve him of a part of his hospit- 
able burden. The young man was much attached to his uncle, 
but Mount Vernon had a greater attraction for him in the 
young and blooming Miss Nellie Custls, who subsequently 
became his wife. 

In the autumn of 1797 young Lafayette left the family at 
Mount Vernon and sailed for Europe to rejoin his father, who 
had been liberated from his prison at Olmutz. 

The retirement of Washington was disturbed by the quarrel 
with France, which threatened to embroil the country in a war 
with that power. The French Republic had by a series of 
steady aggressions driven the United States to take up arms 
for the defence of its commercial rights. Congress autliorized 
the President to raise an army and equip a navy, and while a 
final effort was made to settle the troubles peaceably the coun- 
try prepared to take up the sword should it be necessary. 
There was a universal desire that Washington should assume 
the command of the army. President Adams and his old 
comrades urged him to comply with the popular wish. With 
great reluctance he consented to do so in case of actual invasion. 
On the 3d of July, 1798, the Senate confirmed his nomination to 
be Lieutenani-General and Commander-in-Chief of all the 
armies raised or to be raised for the defence of the country. 



140 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 

Washington accepted the commission, on the understanding 
that he was not to be called upon to take the field until the 
army was in a condition to need his presence, or it should 
become indispensable by the urgency of circumstances. " In 
making this reservation," he wrote to President Adams, " I beg 
it to be understood that I do not mean to withhold any assist- 
ance to arrange and organize the army, which you may think 
I can afford. I take the liberty, also, to mention that I must 
decline having my acceptance considered as drawing after it 
any immediate charge upon the public; or that I can receive 
any emoluments annexed to the appointment before entering 
into a situation to incur expense." 

Three Major-generals were appointed under Washington. 
They were Hamilton, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Knox. 
Knox declined to serve under Hamilton and Pincknj}-, who 
had been his juniors in the Revolution, but asked permission to 
serve as an aide-de-camp to the Commander-in Chief 

In November, 1798, Washington set out from Mount Vernon 
for Philadelphia, where he spent five weeks with the Secretary 
of War and Hamilton and Pinckney, in arranging the organi- 
zation of the army. Upon his return home he was obliged to 
give much of his time and correspondence to the same object. 
Fortunately the determined attitude of the United States had 
produced a happy effect in France. The Directory, impressed 
by the firm attitude of the Americans, re-opened the negotiation 
with the United States, by expressing a desire to receive Com- 
missioners with authority to make a treaty. After some 
hesitation President Adams despatched the Commissioners in 
November, 1799. The work of organizing the army continued 
in the meantime. Washington at Mount Vernon retained 
the general direction of it.* 

The winter of 1799 had now set in, and Washington gave 
himself up in a great measure to the formation of a plan for the 
proper management of his estate, the cultivation of the various 
farms, &c., in order that his death, should it occur soon, might 
not cause any confusion or change in the affairs of the estate. 
He reduced this plan to writing, drawing it up with great 

*The seltlement of the French dispute did not occur until after the death of 
Washington, who was Commander-in-Cliief of the army at tlie time of his demise. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. I4I 

exactness and clearness. He finished this task on the loth of 
December. 

His last public act was performed on the morning of the 12th. 
He wrote to Hamilton cordially approving of the plan for the 
establishment of a military academy, which the latter had sub- 
mitted to the Secretary of War. " The establishment of an 
institution of this kind upon a respectable and extensive basis," 
he wrote, " has ever been considered by me an object of pri- 
mary importance to this country ; and while I was in the chair 
of government I omitted no proper opportunity of recom- 
mending it in my public speeches, and otherwise, to the atten- 
tion of the legislature." 

At ten o'clock ^n the morning of the 12th of December, he 
mounted his horse and rode out to make the usual round of the 
estate. At one " it began to snow, soon after to hail, and then 
turned to a settled cold rain. As he wore his overcoat the 
General did not turn back, but completed his ride, and returned 
to the house after three. As dinner had been waiting for him, 
he sat down to table without changing his dress. During the 
evening he appeared as well as usual. The next day the snow 
was three inches deep, and the General was obliged to relin- 
quish his usual ride. He complained of a sore throat, and it 
was evident that he had taken cold on the previous day. The 
storm passed away in the afternoon, and Washington went out 
on the grounds between the house and the river to mark some 
trees that were to be cut down. In the evening he was very 
hoarse, but was cheerful and conversed with the family, and 
read aloud to them from the newspapers as well as his hoarse- 
ness would permit. Upon retiring, Mr. Lear urged him to take 
something for his cold. " No," he replied, " you know I never 
take anything for a cold. Let it go as it came." 

In the night he was taken with a severe chill and experienced 
great difficulty in breathing. Between two and three o'clock 
in the morning he awoke Mrs. Washington, who wished to rise 
and call a servant; but he prevented her for fear she should 
take cold. At daybreak a female servant entered the chamber 
to make the fire, and was sent for Mr. Lear, who came at once. 
He found the General very ill, breathing with difficulty, and 
scarcely able to speak. Dr. Craik, the family physician, who 



142 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

resided at Alexandria, was at once sent for, and at the General's 
request, Rawlins, the overseer, was called in to bleed him. 
Half a pint of blood was taken by Washington's orders. Exter- 
nal applications were made to the throat, and his feet were 
bathed in hot water, but no relief was experienced by the suf- 
ferer. 

Dr. Craik arrived shortly before nine on the morning of the 
14th, and summoned Drs. Dick and Brown. Various remedies 
and fresh bleeding were tried, but without success. 

" About half-past four o'clock," says Mr. Lear, " he desired 
me to call Mrs. Washington to his bedside, when he requested 
her to go down into his room and take from his desk two wills, 
which she would find there, and bring them to him, which she 
did. Upon looking at them, he gave her one, which he ob- 
served was useless, as being superseded by the other, and 
desired her to burn it, which she did, and took the other and 
put it in her closet. 

" After this was done, I returned to his bedside and took his 
hand. He said to me, ' I find I am going ; my breath cannot 
last long. I believed from the first that the disorder would 
prove fatal. Do you arrange and record all my late military 
letters and papers. Arrange my accounts and settle my books, 
as you know more about them than any one else ; and let Mr. 
Rawlins finish recording my other letters, which he has begun.' 
I told him this should be done. He then asked if I recollected 
anything which it was essential for him to do, as he had but a 
very short time to continue with us. I told him that I could 
recollect nothing ; but that I hoped he was not so near his end. 
He observed, smiling, that he certainly was, and that, as it was 
the debt which we must all pay, he looked to the event with 
perfect resignation." 

During the afternoon his breathing was difficult and painful, 
and Mr. Lear endeavored to raise him in order to afford him 
relief. " I am afraid I fatigue you too much," said the General. 
Mr. Lear assured him that such was not the case. "W^ell," 
said the dying man, gently, "it is a debt we must pay to each 
other, and I hope when you want aid of this kind you will 
find it." 

Somewhat later, seeing his old servant Christopher, who had 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. I43 

been standing all through the day, he spoke to him kindly, and 
told him to sit down. 

About five o'clock he said to his old friend, Dr. Graik, who 
was standing by his bed, "Doctor, I die hard, but I am not 
afiaid to go. I believed from my first attack that I should not 
surviv'C it — my breath cannot last long." The Doctor, unable 
to reply, pressed his hand in silence, and took a seat by the fire 
plunged in grief Towards six o'clock the other physicians 
that had been summoned by Dr. Craik, arrived. The Qeneral 
was assisted to sit up in his bed. "I feel I am going," he said; 
"I thank you for your attentions, but I pray you to take no 
more trouble about me; let me go off quietly; I cannot last long." 
He lay down again, and all but Dr. Craik retired from the room. 
During the evening further remedies were tried, but without 
avail. The General was restless and in pain, and frequently 
asked what time it was. 

"About ten o'clock," says Mr. Lear, "he made several efforts 
to speak to me before he could effect it. At length he said, ' I 
am just going. Have me decently buried, and do not let my 
body be put into the vault in less than three days after I am 
dead.' I bowed assent, for I could not speak. He then 
looked at me again, and said, ' Do you understand me ?' I 
replied, 'Yes.' "Tis well,' said he. 

"About ten minutes before he expired (which was between 
ten and eleven o'clock) his breathing became easier. He lay 
quietly; he withdrew his hand from mine and felt his own 
pulse. I saw his countenance change. I spoke to Dr. Craik, 
v/ho sat by the fire. He came to the bedside. The General's 
hand fell from his wrist. I took it in mine and pressed it to 
my bosom. Dr. Craik put his hands over his eyes, and he 
expired without a struggle or a sigh. 

" While we were fixed in silent grief, Mrs. Washington, who 
was seated at the foot of the bed, asked, with a firm and col- 
lected voice, ' Is he gone ?' I could not speak, but held up my 
hand as a signal that he was no more. * 'Tis well,' said she in 
the .same voice. 'AH is over now ; I shall soon follow him ; I 
have no more trials to pass through.' " 

The funeral of Washington took place at Mount Vernon on 
the afternoon of the i8th of December The people of Alex- 



144 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

andria, the mayor and corporation of that city, the Free Ma- 
sons, and the militia, with eleven pieces of cannon, arrived a 
little after noon. About three o'clock the procession began to 
move, and passing down the lawn, halted at the family vault at 
the right of the house, minute guns being fired all the while. 
The Rev. Mr. Davis read the funeral service at the vault, and 
pronounced a short address. Then the Masons performed 
their ceremonies and the services, which were simple, in 
accordance with Washington's own wishes, came to an end. 

When the will of Washington was opened, it was found that 
he had bequeathed the boon of freedom to all his negro slaves 
after the death of his wife ; and he expressly forbade the sale or 
transportation out of Virginia of any negro slave of whom he 
died possessed. 

The news of the death of Washington was received with 
j^rofound sorrow throughout the Union. Congress immediately 
adjourned and ordered suitable mourning to be observed. All 
the States, and every city and town of the Union, paid appro- 
priate honors to his memory, and the whole land bore witness 
by its sorrow to his illustrious character. 

Nor were these testimonials confined to his own country. 
Napoleon, then First Consul of France, announced the death 
of Washington to the French army in a masterly order of the 
day, and caused the standards of the troops to be shrouded in 
crape for ten days. Lord Bridport, commanding the Channel 
fleet of England, consisting of sixty sail of the line, immedi- 
ately upon receipt of the sad news, lowered his flag half-mast, 
and his example was followed by every ship in the fleet. But 
the proudest tribute of all to the memory of Washington is the 
unceasing and ever-increasing love with which his name is 
cherished by his countrymen. 




THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

\ MONG the first settlers of the Colony of Virginia was 
l\. the founder of the Jefferson family. He was of Welsh 
extraction, and came to the Colony before it had surmounted 
its early trials. He was a member of the Virginia Assembly 
of 1619, the first legislative body ever convened in America. 
He must have been a man of merit, for he established for him- 
self a goodly estate south of the James, and his descendants 
occupied a good social position in the aristocratic province of 
Virginia. One of these descendants, Peter Jefferson by name, 
being a younger son, had his own way to make in the world, 
and adopted the profession of a surveyor. He prospered, for 
he was a hard and systematic worker, and soon won for himself 
a farm of a thousand acres, on the banks of the Rivanna, at 
the foot of the Blue Ridge. He was a man of unusually large 
stature, and of extraordinary physical strength. " He had the 
strength of three strong men. Two hogsheads of tobacco, 
each weighing a thousand pounds, he could raise at once from 
their sides, and stand them upright. When surveying in the 
wilderness, he could tire out his assistants, and tire out his 
mules; then eat his mules, and still press on, sleeping alone by 
night in a hollow tree to the howling of wolves, till his task 
was done. He loved mathematics. He managed his affairs so 
well, that, in twenty years, he was master of a competent 
estate, and could assign a good plantation to his younger son, 
after leaving the bulk of his estate to his eldest." His bodily 
strength was well nigh matched by the vigor of his mind, and 
he was a dear lover of Shakespeare. The Spectator was also 
among his literary treasures, and he relished Swift as only a 
man of brains can. He took a high place in his county. He 
was one of the three justices of the peace appointed when the 
County of Albemarle was first laid off; was County Surveyor, 
and Colonel of the militia — the last no empty honor then, as 
upon him depended the direction of the defence of the frontiei 

against the savages. 

10 (145) 



146 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

In 1738, while still engaged in his earlier efforts to establish 
a home, Peter Jefferson married Jane, the daughter of Isham 
Randolph, Esq., by whom he had eight children. She was a 
woman of fine intelligence and great sweetness of disposition. 
From her the subject of this memoir inherited the exquisite 
tenderness and lovableness which so endeared him to his 
friends in after life. 

Colonel Peter Jefferson gave to his estate in Albemarle the 
name of Shadwell, as it was in that parish that his wife had 
been born during a visit of her parents to the city of London. 
It lay at the foot of the Blue Ridge, a few miles from the 
present town of Charlottesville. There, on the 13th of April, 
1743, Thomas Jefferson was born. He was the third child of 
his parents, and their eldest son. He passed his infancy and 
childhood in this delightful region, and grew up a hardy, 
healthy lad, with a stout frame and a vigorous constitution. 
He was passionately fond of music, and from both parents in- 
herited a love for the beautiful. He learned at an early age to 
play on the violin, and through life found this instrument an 
unfailing source of pleasure and relaxation. 

Colonel Jefferson was resolved that his son should possess the 
best education that could be obtained in the Colony; and when 
the boy was old enough, he was sent to board in the family of 
the Rev. Mr. Douglass, a Scottish clergyman, who taught him 
Greek, Latin and French. He spent five years under this 
excellent teacher. In 1757 Colonel Jefferson died at the age 
of fifty years. His last injunction was that his son's education 
should be completed, and that those who had it in charge 
should not permit him to neglect the bodily exercise necessary 
to keep his physical strength in full vigor, for the good father 
was convinced that a vigorous and healthy mind must have a 
body to match it. 

After his father's death Thomas Jefferson changed his school, 
and placed himself under the instruction of the Rev. James 
Maury, of Huguenot descent, genuine scholarship, and — what 
was notable in all Virginia clergymen of that day — a man of 
blameless life and liberal opinions. He was noted here, says 
one of his companions, for his studiousness and his shyness. 
He was fond of hunting, though he never neglected his studies 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. I47 

for it, and would come in from a day's tramp over the moun- 
tains, fresh and sound of wind, the envy of his worn-out com- 
panions. He remained with Mr. Maury for two years, and at 
the age of sixteen repaired to Williamsburg, the capital of the 
province, and entered the College of William and Mary. On 
the journey he made the acquaintance of Patrick Henry, then 
a jovial young blade, noted for his fiddling and love of fun. 

Jefferson spent two years within the walls of William and 
Maiy. The standard of the college was not high, but it had 
among its professors no less a personage than Dr. Small, who 
subsequently became the famous Dr. Small, of Birmingham, in 
England. He taught him mathematics, " ethics, belles-lettres 
and rhetoric," and better still, thoroughly imbued him with 
his own liberal opinions. " He, most happily for me," said 
Jefferson in after years, " soon became attached to me, and 
made me his daily companion when not engaged in the school ; 
and from his conversation I got my first views of the expan- 
sion of science, and of the system of things in which we are 
placed." Under the instruction of this wise teacher, Jefferson 
became as much enamored of mathematics as his father had 
been, and his love for this study ended only with his life. He 
worked hard, giving fifteen hours to his studies, yet managed 
to take at least a portion of the exercise necessary to his health. 
His habits were excellent ; he did not use tobacco in any form, 
and neither gambled nor drank — vices common to the young 
men of this day. 

His residence at Williamsburg was of the greatest value to 
the young student. The town was the centre of fashionable 
as well as of political life in the Old Dominion, and young 
Jefferson had the opportunity of acquiring those courtly graces 
for which he was afterwards noted, as well as of studying the 
men and measures of the time by immediate contact with them. 
He was an especial favorite of the brilliant Governor Fauquier, 
and was a daily visitor at the " Palace." There he met with 
George Wythe, one of the wisest men of his day, who con- 
ceived a warm friendship for the young student some seven- 
teen years his junior. In the society of these gifted men Jef- 
ferson found himself drawn along into the intellectual pursuits 
they loved ; his mind was awakened, his ambition aroused, and 



148 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

he gained broader and deeper views of life and its duties than 
are common to young men of his age. " Such was the party 
oftenest gathered about the governor's ' famihar table :' Pro- 
fessor Small, the mathematician and man of science ; George 
Wythe, the moralist, learned in law and Greek ; Francis Fau- 
quier, the man of the world of the period ; Thomas Jefferson, 
a shy, inquisitive young man, quick to take in all these accom- 
plished men had to give, and contributing his share of the 
entertainment by the intelligent sympathy with which he 
listened. These men were his teachers ; this table his uni- 
versity." 

This delightful party was broken up in 1762, by the removal 
of Professor Small to England. Jefferson was not sufifilciently 
well off to remain unemployed longer than was necessary, and 
as he had mastered about all that William and Mary had to 
impart, he resolved to commence at once his preparation for the 
profession of the law, to which he had determined to devote 
himself Accordingly he began his legal studies in 1763, 
enjoying the rare good fortune of having for his preceptor the 
good and wise George Wythe, who was also the instructor of 
John Marshall and Henry Clay. 

Jefferson came of age in 1764, and at once took his posi- 
tion as his father's successor in his native county, giving 
faithful attention to the practical duties of life, while he 
pursued his law studies with vigor and zeal. He was not 
satisfied with mastering the ordinary text-books, though Coke 
was his favorite, and taught him those deep lessons of liberty 
and the rights of humanity that were the guiding principles of 
his after life. He traced the spirit of English law to its sources, 
and "conned with the keenest scrutiny" the legislation of King 
Alfred, the abrogation of which by the Conqueror the English 
so deeply lamented. He made copious notes of his studies, 
and subjected all his reading to a thorough and systematic 
digest. He was exact in all things, and there still remain the 
records which he kept during his early life. Until his death he 
continued this habit of minute record. " Nor did he ever con- 
tent himself with the mere records of items. These were 
regularly reviewed, added, compared, and utilized in every 
possible way. It was the most remarkable of all his habits." 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. I49 

His law studies were carried on at Williamsburg during the 
winter, and at home, in Albemarle, during the remainder of 
the year. 

While he was still a student of the law, stirring events were 
transpiring which he watched with an eager eye, and which 
served to attach him all the more to the principles he had 
drawn from his books. In 1765 the Stamp Act set the seal to 
the policy of injustice with which Great Britain had treated her 
American Colonies; and in the same year the First Colonial 
Congress assembled at New York. In 1766 the Stamp Act 
was repealed, and the next year, when the legal studies of 
Jefferson came to a close, the effort to tax America was fairly 
inaugurated. Jefferson was a regular attendant upon the 
sessions of the Assembly. His old friend, Patrick Henry, 
who had won fame as the people's lawyer in the Parsons' 
cause, came to Williamsburg in May, 1765, as a member of the 
Assembly, to take his place as the champion of American 
liberty, and to electrify the country with his celebrated Five 
Resolutions, which joined the great issue squarely with the 
King. Jefferson stood at the door of the lobby, thrilled in 
every nerve by the masterly eloquence with which his friend 
supported his resolutions. His studies had been deep enough 
already to show him the justice of his country's cause, and he 
never doubted which side he should take if the worst came to 
the worst. 

In the spring of 1766 the student made a journey in a one- 
horse chaise to the North, visiting Annapolis, Baltimore, Phila- 
delphia and New York. In the last-named place he made the 
acquaintance of a young gentleman of his own age from 
Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry by name, a man destined like 
himself to be a stout defender of the liberties of America. 

Early in 1767, about the time of his twenty-fourth birthday, 
Jefferson's legal studies came to an end, and he was admitted 
to the bar. He at once began the practice of his profession in 
his own county. He already enjoyed the reputation of being 
one of the most thoroughly learned men in Virginia, and busi- 
ness came to him at once. Besides his office and county busi- 
ness, he was engaged in sixty-eight cases before the General 
Court of the Province during the first year of his practice. 



150 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

These paid him a Httle more than two hundred pounds sterling, 
for in those days the fees of lawyers were limited by statute. 
Cases were plentiful, however. Almost every man had a law- 
suit, for Virginia had begun to pay the penalty of her early 
extravagance and her disregard of the fundamental conditions 
of a country's prosperity. The young lawyer was keeniy 
aware of the causes of the troubles of his native province, and 
his practice impressed them deeply upon him, thus giving to 
him a special education which admirably fitted him for the 
part he was to play in after years. He worked hard, and by 
1 77 1 his income from his profession amounted to about five 
hundred pounds sterling per annum. Besides this, he had four 
hundred pounds more from his farm. As his habits were sim- 
ple and inexpensive, he was able to lay by something every 
year. He made constant additions to his estate, and in 1774 
found himself master of a number of farms, amounting in the 
aggregate to five thousand acres, " all paid for." He did not, 
however, invest any of his money in slaves, as was the custom 
of the time. He had learned to abhor the system of slavery, 
and in 1774 the thirty negroes who had been bequeathed to 
him by his father, had increased to but fifty-four. He was no 
orator, but he spoke with fluency and force, and his cases were 
so thoroughly prepared that it was very difficult for his oppo- 
nents to pick a flaw in them. As for his legal knowledge, his 
preceptor was, perhaps, the only man in Virginia who was his 
superior. His industry was wonderful, and he possessed the 
peculiar gift of finding at once exactly what he wanted in the 
books to which he made reference. His temper was serene 
and thoroughly under his control, and his courtesy al the bar 
proverbial. He despised sharp practice. The late Col. Ran- 
dolph, of Albemarle, his grandson, once asked an old man who, 
in his younger days, had heard him plead causes, how he ranked 
as a speaker. " Well," replied the old man, " it is hard to tell, 
because he always took the right side." 

In the meantime the decision of the British Government to 
tax the Colonies had been taken, and in 1767, the year in 
which Jefferson entered upon the practice of his profession, the 
Bill imposing duties upon certain articles imported into the 
Colonies was passed by Parliament, and was met with a fir.n 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. I5I 

resistance by Massachusetts. In the midst of the exciting 
discussions which followed, Jefferson was elected, in the winter 
of 1768-9, to represent his county in the General Assembly of 
the Province. He marked his entrance upon public life by a 
resolution for his own guidance, which we of to-day can par- 
ticularly appreciate, and which he thus states in his own words : 
" When I first entered on the stage of public life I came to a 
resolution never to engage, while in public office, in any kind 
of enterprise for the improvement of my fortune, nor to wear 
any other character than that of a farmer. I have never de- 
parted from it in a single instance ; and I have, in multiplied 
instances, found myself happy in being able to decide and to 
act as a public servant, clear of all interest, in the multiform 
questions that have arisen, wherein I have seen others em- 
barrassed and biased by having got themselves in a more 
interested situation. Thus have I thought myself richer in 
contentment than I should have been with any increase of for- 
tune. Certainly I should have been much wealthier had I 
remained in that private condition which renders it lawful and 
even laudable to use proper efforts to better it." 

The House of Burgesses began its session by making a 
hearty response to the invitation of Massachusetts to the other 
Colonies to tDiite in constitutional opposition to the injustice of 
Great Britain, and on the third day of the session adopted the 
Four Resolutions which declared, ist. That taxation without 
representation was unlawful ; 2d, That the Colonies had a right 
to unite in seeking redress of grievances ; 3d, That the trans- 
portation of accused persons to England for trial was unconsti- 
tutional and a grievous wrong ; and, 4th, that an address to the 
King be adopted, asking for redress of the wrongs complained 
of The resolutions were adopted by an almost unanimous 
vote, and the speaker was ordered to send a copy of them to 
every legislative assembly " on this continent." The next day 
the address to the King was adopted, and ordered to be for- 
warded to England and published there. On the day follow- 
ing the Governor, Lord Botetourt, dissolved the Assembly for 
its boldness, and Jefferson was once more a private citizen. 
He took part in and gave his hearty support to the resolves of 
the meeting held the next day in the guest room of the 



152 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Raleigh Tavern, which bound Virginia to the non-importation 

scheme of the Northern Colonies. 

A few months later the Assembly was again convened by 
Lord Botetourt, and during this session Jefferson met with a 
rebuff which must have taught him how far he was in advance 
of his associates. He had learned, as we have said, to abhor 
slavery, and he induced Colonel Bland to introduce a bill 
repealing the law which forbade manumitted slaves to reside in 
the province, and extending to the slaves, to use his own words, 
" certain moderate extensions of the protection of the laws." 
The introduction of the bill aroused a storm of anger in the 
slaveholding Assembly. " I seconded his motion," says 
Jefferson, " and, as a younger member, was more spared in 
the debate ; but he was denounced as an enemy to his country, 
and was treated with the greatest indecorum." And this, 
although Colonel Bland was " one of the oldest, ablest and 
most respected members " of the Assembly. The author of 
the scheme was almost a century ahead of his time. 

In 1770 Jefferson's residence was destroyed by fire, and he 
began the erection of a new house on the summit of his 
beloved Monticello. He meant that this should be the best- 
planned residence in Virginia. It took him nearly a quarter of 
a century to carry out his design, but he succeeded, at last, and 
realized his hopes in the stately mansion that is inseparably 
connected with his name. On the ist of January, 1772, he 
married Martha Skelton, the widowed daughter of his friend 
John Wayles. She was a woman in all respects worthy to be 
the partner of such a man, and brought him a fortune equal to 
his own. He took his bride to his home at Monticello, and in 
her society passed his happiest days. 

The growing troubles with the Mother Country did not 
permit him to enjoy his home in peace. His public duties 
called him to Williamsburg, where he took his true place 
among the foremost opponents of British injustice. He took 
an active part in the proceedings of the Assembly, and in the 
summer of 1774 drew up a long series of instructions to the 
delegates to be appointed from Virginia to the General Con- 
gress at Philadelphia. The instructions were not adopted by 
the nominating Convention, but were published in pamphlet 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 153 

form under the title of "A Summary View of the Rights of 
America." The pamphlet was extensively circulated in Amer- 
ica, and was reprinted in England at the instance of Edmund 
Burke, and ran through edition after edition. It made a marked 
impression upon the people of both countries, and drew upon 
Jefferson the hostility of the British Government, as it was one 
of the boldest and most forcible statements of the history and 
the true nature of the connection between Great Britain and 
the Colonies that had yet appeared. 

In 1774, at the age of thirty-one, after seven years' success- 
ful practice of his profession, Jefferson withdrew from the 
practice of law, and turned over all his business to his kinsman, 
Edmund Randolph. He was unable to attend the Convention 
which appointed the delegates to the General Congress, during 
its first session at Williamsburg, but was present at the 
adjourned session at Richmond, and was appointed one of the 
Committee of Thirteen charged with superintending the arming 
of Virginia. There was a probability of the General Assembly 
of the Province being convened by Lord Dunmore, and this 
measure would compel Peyton Randolph, the Speaker of the 
House of Burgesses, to return home. The Convention there- 
fore ordered that in such an event Mr. Jefferson should proceed 
to Philadelphia and take Mr. Randolph's place in the Congress. 
The course of events compelled the Governor to call the Bur- 
gesses together,*and the first of June was appointed for the 
meeting. Mr. Randolph returned to Virginia, but asked Mr. 
Jefferson to delay his departure for Philadelphia for a few days, 
and in the meantime the latter held his seat in the Assembly, 
and drew up the reply of Virginia to the measures by which 
Lord North hoped to settle the difficulty. As soon as this 
was done, he left Williamsburg, on the morning of the iith. 
for Philadelphia, which he reached on the morning of the 20th 
of June — the day on which Washington received his commis- 
sion as Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He 
brought with him the cheering news that Virginia was firm in 
her resolve to stand by her Northern Sisters to the bitter end. 

Mr. Jefferson at once took his seat in the Continental Con- 
gress. He was not unknoAvn to that body, but brought with 
him, as John Adams declares, "a reputation for literature, 



154 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

science, and a happy talent for composition." " He was so 
prompt, frank, explicit, and decisive upon committees and in 
conversation," says the same writer — " not even Samuel Adams 
was more so — that he soon seized upon my heart." On the 
day that he took his seat news was received of the battle of 
Bunker Hill; three days later the new member was appointed 
a member of the Committee charged with drawing up a paper 
setting forth the reasons for taking up arms. His draught was 
rejected by the Committee, which accepted one prepared by 
John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, who took Jefferson's glowing 
paper and toned it down to suit his own timidity. Towards 
the close of the session Mr. Jefferson drew up an answer on 
behalf of the Congress to Lord North's conciliatory proposi- 
tions. 

Returning to Richmond at the close of the session of 
Congress, Mr. Jefferson had the gratification of being re- 
elected to Congress by the Convention. Obtaining leave of 
absence from the latter body he returned home, which he 
reached on the 19th of August. As Congress was to meet 
again on the 5th of September, he had but ten days to remain 
at Monticello, " where he had a house enlarging, a family of 
thirty-four whites and eighty-three blacks to think for, half a 
dozen farms to superintend, and a highly complicated and 
extensive garden to overlook." When the fifth of September 
arrived, it found Jefferson watching by the* sick bed of his 
second child, who died in this month of September, 1 775. 
When his little one was laid in the ground, the bereaved 
father set out for his post of duty, and traveled with such 
energy that he reached Philadelphia in six days. 

Congress sat with closed doors. Jefferson was regular in 
his attendance, and indefatigable in his service on Committees 
and in the other duties of his position. His absence from 
home cost him a great sacrifice, for his wife was in delicate 
health, and the whole management of his affairs depended 
upon himself The efforts of Dunmore to excite a revolt of 
the slaves filled him with anxiety. As only four of the seven 
Virginia delegates were required to be constantly in attendance 
upon the sessions of Congress, the members of the delegation 
took turns in going home. Jefferson's turn came in January, 




nCITB BBOS , Kf aa , PHILA 



COPVRIOHT BEOV&SD* 



THE HOUSE IN WHICH THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS WRITTEN. 







^'^/Jl; 






tc-uTG-n 




SIGNATiniES TO THE DECLAKATION OP INDEPENDENCE. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. I 55 

1776, and he eagerly availed himself of it. He passed the 
rest of the winter in Virginia, where he exerted himself to raise 
supplies for the people of Boston, and in collecting money for 
the purchase of powder. In March, 1776, his mother died, at 
the age of fifty-five. Early in May he returned to Philadel- 
phia, and on the 13th of that month resumed his seat in Con- 
gress. 

A little later the Virginia delegates received the instructions 
of that province directing them to move that Congress declare 
the Colonies independent of British rule. On the 7th of June, 
Rfchard Henry Lee offered a resolution in Congress in accord- 
ance with these instructions, declaring " that the United Colo- 
nies are, and ought to be, free and independent States, and 
that their political connection with Great Britain is, and ought 
to be, dissolved." The resolution was seconded by John 
Adams, of Massachusetts, which province had instructed her 
delegates to take this stand. After two days' debate the sub- 
ject was postponed for twenty days, and a Committee of five 
was appointed to prepare a declaration of independence. They 
were Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger 
Sherman and R. R. Livingston. 

Mr. Jefferson was regarded by his associates on the Com- 
mittee as the one most fitted for the preparation of the decla- 
ration, and was urged to prepare it. The task was not very 
difficult, for all that was required was a clear and concise state- 
ment of the grievances which had driven the Colonies to 
separation from England ; and these had been so thoroughly 
discussed for the past eleven years, that they were on every 
tongue. Jefferson was thoroughly conversant with them, and 
readily acceded to the request of his associates. He was lodg- 
ing, at the time, in a new house on the suburbs of Philadelphia, 
near the present corner of Market and Seventh streets, and in 
his sitting room in this house, he wrote the draft of the Decla- 
ration of Independence. The Committee made very few 
changes in the paper, and it was reported to the House in 
nearly the same shape that it came from Jefferson's pen. It 
was subjected to a three days' debate in Congress, and was 
ver>' much changed and altered. This discussion terminated 
on the afternoon of Thursday, the 4th of July, 1776, when the 



156 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Declaration of Independence was adopted in its present form 
by Congress, by a majority of the votes of all the Colonies. 
The delegates at once affixed their signatures to it, and on the 
following Monday it was publicly read to the people in Inde- 
pendence Square. 

The declaration was received by all the States, and by the 
army with enthusiasm. The thirteen United Colonies took 
their place in the family of nations as the thirteen United 
States. The declaration did not make the Colonies inde- 
pendent States, or States in any sense. It was simply their 
announcement to the world that they had, each for itself, by 
the exercise of its own sovereign power, assumed the inde- 
pendence which rightfully belonged to it. The declaration 
entirely changed the character of the war. It was now for 
independence, and could end only in the triumph or the subju- 
gation of the States. 

F'amily affairs and the need of his presence in Virginia now 
induced Mr. Jefferson to resign his seat in Congress. Upon 
the appointment of his successor he left Congress, in Septem- 
ber, 1776, and returned to Virginia. He had been elected a 
member of the legislature of the State, and after spending a 
few days at home proceeded to Williamsburg to attend the 
sessions of that body. A few days after his arrival he received 
a communication from the President of Congress informing him 
of his appointment as one of the Commissioners to France. 
The delicate state of Mrs. Jefferson's health prevented him 
from taking her with him, and he could not think of leaving 
her in her feeble condition. The appointment was therefore 
declined. 

In the Legislature of Virginia Mr. Jefferson was the acknowl- 
edged leader of the liberal party. He had the support of such 
men in the Assembly as George Mason, his old preceptor 
George Wythe, and a new member, James Madison by name, 
a young man of twenty-five, and just entering upon the career 
which Jefferson's influence was to do so much towards shaping. 
The Virginia radicals were resolved that Virginia should be 
rid of her old, narrow-minded and unjust laws. They saw the 
need of reform, and they went to work bravely to effect it. 
The Governor, Patrick Henry, was with them, but a strong 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. I 57 

party, ably led by such men as Edmund Pendleton and R. C. 
Nicholas, clung to the old system, and opposed every effort to 
change it. 

Jefferson's first blow was struck at the root of all the evils — 
the system of entail and primogeniture. After a three weeks' 
struggle, the old laws were abolished and a new bill adopted, 
making the ownership of all real estate and every negro in 
Virginia in fee simple, and rendering them liable to seizure for 
debt. Thus was the basis of the old aristocratic system 
destroyed, and the work of reform fairly begun. The next 
step was not so easy. Jefferson offered a bill repealing the 
laws requiring conformity to the Episcopal Church under severe 
penalties. It took nearly ten years to bring about the complete 
establishment of religious freedom in Virginia, and it was not 
until 1786 that Mr. Jefferson's bill for this purpose became the 
law of Virginia. His industry during this session of the Legis- 
lature was remarkable. " Never, perhaps," says Mr. Parton, 
" since the earliest historical times, has one mind so incorporated 
itself with a country's laws and institutions as Jefferson's with 
those of new-born Virginia. In this first month of October, 
1776, besides actually accomplishing much, he cut out work 
enough to keep the best heads of Virginia busy for ten years." 
He drew the bill for establishing courts of law in the State, and 
for defining the powers, jurisdiction and methods of each of 
them. He induced the Legislature to remove the seat of 
government from Williamsburg to Richmond, and thus origi- 
nated the plan which nearly every State has followed, of locat- 
ing its capital near its geographical centre. In the same 
month he introduced a bill, which has in effect become the 
policy of the National Government, providing that a residence 
of two years in the State, a declaration of intention to live in 
the State, and an oath of fidelity to it, should entitle a foreigner 
to the privileges of citizenship of Virginia. The children of 
naturalized parents were, by the terms of this bill, to become 
citizens upon coming of age, without any legal formalities. He 
also secured the passage of a bill which he reported, appointing 
a committee of five to collect and revise the antiquated statutes 
of Virginia, and report to the house a body of law suited to the 
new conditions of the State. He was appointed chairman of 



158 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

this committee, and his associates were Edmund Pendleton^ 
George Wythe, George Mason and Francis Lightfoot Lee. 
The work was actually done by the first three. Jefferson's 
portion was arduous, and occupied his leisure time for two 
years. The work was well done, and gave to Virginia the best 
code of laws she had ever enjoyed. Jefferson's reforms were 
won in the teeth of a fierce opposition from the old aristocratic 
class, and aroused a hatred of him and his measures upon their 
part which ended only with their lives. 

In January, 1779, Mr. Jefferson was elected by the legisla- 
ture Governor of Virginia, to succeed Patrick Henrj^, and on 
the 1st of June entered upon the duties of his ofifice. Wil- 
liamsburg was still the capital, and thither he repaired. Until 
now his public duties had been easily discharged ; he was now 
to attempt a task of greater difficulty. The finances of Vir- 
ginia were in confusion, the paper money of the time was 
worthless, and the State without credit. There was constant 
need for money, however, as the Virginia troops had to be 
supplied with arms, clothing and other necessities, the gov^ern- 
ment of the State carried on, the Western frontier held against 
the attacks of the British and their savage allies, and the 
eastern coast protected against the inroads of the British fleet. 
The work in the West was well done by the heroic George 
Rogers Clarke, a native of Jefferson's own county, and a 
handful of men, and the hold of Virginia upon her immense 
territory beyond the Ohio was firmly maintained. The eastern 
counties were always exposed to the attacks of the enemy, 
whose fleet gave them the means of striking at any point of 
the Chesapeake coast. Jefferson gave to Colonel Clarke all 
the support in his power, but was not able to do much for the 
eastern counties. In the spring of 1780, the capital of the 
State was removed from Williamsburg to Richmond, then a 
village of nine hundred inhabitants. 

Matters now became gloomy enough. Charleston was taken 
and South Carolina was quickly overrun. The British army 
was preparing for an advance northward, and Virginia was 
threatened from a new quarter. All the while urgent appeals 
were being made to the Governor to forward everything that 
could be spared to the army under Washington. Jefferson 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 1 59 

labored with more than his usual energy to meet all these 
demands upon the State. A new army was formed in the 
Carolinas, under General Gates, to resist the northward advance 
of the British, and Jefferson sent Gates every man, horse, 
wagon, and all the supplies he could raise. He silenced the 
complaints of those who cried out that he was stripping Vir- 
ginia of her means of defense by declaring that the only way 
to save Virginia was to prevent Cornwallis from reaching the 
State. All his energetic efforts were in vain, however, for the 
defeat of Gates at Camden, on the i6th of August, 1780, lost 
everything he had been able to send the southern army. Jef- 
ferson was keenly alive to the dangers of the situation, but he 
addressed himself bravely to the task of repairing the dis- 
aster. Every nerve was strained to accumulate fresh supplies, 
raise new troops, and collect wagons, horses and arms, to 
enable the southern army to make a new stand. 

In the midst of these preparations an expedition, under the 
traitor Arnold, ascended the James, landed at Westover, and 
made a dash at Richmond. Jefferson was promptly informed 
of the danger. He was alone ; not a member of the Council 
or Assembly was in Richmond ; but he set to work with en- 
ergy to save the public property. With great exertion he suc- 
ceeded in securing the removal of the archives and the gi;eater 
part of the stores of the State to a place of safety, and at the 
same time summoned the militia of the surrounding country 
to arms. Arnold occupied Richmond on the 5th of January, 
1 78 1, but everything of value had been removed. He held 
the town but twenty-three hours, as the militia were responding 
zealously to the Governor's call. So energetic was the action 
of Jefferson, and so prompt the response of the militia, that in 
five days 2,500 men were on the traitor's path. He managed 
to escape by means of his vessels. 

From this time the counties along the Chesapeake and its 
tributaries were at the mercy of the enemy, and were con- 
stantly harried by them. Virginia had a plenty of men willing 
to serve, but she had no arms for them. Jefferson constantly 
urged upon Washington and upon Congress the necessity of 
giving the State a supply of arms, but none could be obtained. 
Everything devolved upon the Governor. Richmond was so 



l60 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

much exposed that the Legislature met only in brief, hurried, 
sessions, at one of which almost dictatorial powers were con- 
ferred upon the Governor. He was authorized to call out the 
whole militia, to impress anything necessary to the public 
defence, and to issue State treasury notes to the amount of 
fifteen million dollars. He was powerless, however, and though 
he w^orked with untiring energy, he accomplished little, and 
aroused a storm of opposition. The old aristocratic class had 
not forgiven him for his reforms, and now avenged itself by 
denouncing him vigorously for what they termed his abuse of 
power. Finally the Legislature adjourned from Richmond to 
meet at Charlottesville on the 24th of May, 1781. On the ist 
of June Mr. Jefferson's term expired, and Virginia found her- 
self without a Governor._ The Legislature met on the 24th, 
but there was no quorum until the 28th. Even then an 
election for Governor could not be held. Cornwallis was 
rapidly advancing into the State, and a British force under 
General Leslie was already in possession of the counties South 
of the James from Portsmouth to Petersburg. At this juncture 
a bold dash was made by Colonel Tarleton with his dragoons 
at Charlottesville. On the 4th of June both Monticello and 
Charlottesville were occupied by the dragoons. A timely 
warni^ig enabled Jefferson and his family to escape, and the 
Legisla.ture being also informed of their danger, met hastily 
and adjourned to meet at Staunton, beyond the Blue Ridge. 
They met at Staunton on the 7th of June, and, sore from their 
rough handling, several of the members endeavored to cast the 
blame of the frequent invasions of the State upon Governor 
Jefferson. Jefferson's friends met these charges by a demand 
for their investigation, and the Governor himself succeeded in 
putting an end to the interregnum by inducing his friends, who 
were a majority of the house, to elect Thomas Nelson, who had 
been his main stay during his administration, Governor of Vir- 
ginia. A few months later the war was brought to a practical 
close by the capture of Cornwallis' army at Yorktown. 

Mr. Jefferson was elected to the Legislatnre after the close 
of his term, and on the 19th of December, 1781, rose in his 
place in the House and reminded that body of the intimated 
censure of his conduct while Governor, and demanded that 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. l6l 

charges should be brought against him. The answer of the 
Council and Assembly was a unanimous joint resolution thank- 
ing him for his " impartial, upright, and attentive administration." 
Even this resolution did not heal the wound which had been 
inflicted upon the sensitive statesman. He was disgusted with 
public life, and withdrawing from it, retired to Monticello, to 
repair the ravages which the war and his devotion to the 
service of his country had made in his fortune, and to devote 
himself to the care of his family and the cultivation of intel- 
lectual pursuits. His dream of happiness was rudely broken 
by the death of his wife on the. 6th of September, 1782. The 
blow crushed him for awhile, and it was a relief to his tortured 
mind to enter, in November, 1783, upon public life again. In 
that month he took his seat in Congress, then sitting at 
Annapolis, as a representative from Virginia. As a member of 
this Congress he signed the Treaty of Peace, which acknowl- 
edged the independence of the United States. He rendered an 
additional service to the country by recommending the simple 
and excellent system which was adopted for the national 
currency. He also drew the plan for the government of the 
Northwest Territory ceded by Virginia to the common country, 
and inserted the clause prohibiting slavery in that magnificent 
domain, which was defeated, however, by the votes of the 
Southern members of Congress. On the 7th of May, 1784, Con- 
gress appointed Mr. Jefferson an envoy to France, to co-operate 
with Dr. Franklin and John Adams in the work of negotiating 
commercial treaties with the leading nations of Europe. After 
making provision for the care of his family, he set out from 
Annapolis on the nth of May, and sailed from Boston on the 
4th of July. Early in August he was in Paris. He performed 
his duties as a member of this commission with zeal and 
ability, and on the lOth of March, 1785, was appointed by 
Congress Minister Resident at the Court of Versailles. 

Mr. Jefferson remained abroad five years — a period full of 
the most useful service to his country. Dr. Franklin had won 
the cordial regard of the French nation for America, but 
France knew little or nothing of the country it had helped to 
independence. Jefferson exerted himself to remove this ignor- 
ance, and to introduce his country, and make known its mag- 



1 62 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

nificent capacity for improvement to the European world. He 
endeavored, during the whole of his residence in France, to 
inaugurate free trade between that country and America, and 
though he was unsuccessful in this effort, gained many advan- 
tages for America. Trade was fettered by too many monopo- 
lies at that time for his far-seeing policy to prevail. He 
negotiated a treaty with France, placing the Consular service 
upon a more reasonable footing than formerly. He exerted 
himself to spread information concerning America, its geogra- 
phy, climate, resources and capabilities for improvement. He 
corresponded with learned men and scientific societies, wrote 
communications for various publications, and contributed sev- 
eral articles on Amercan subjects to the Encyclopedic. He 
was regarded as the best source of information on American 
topics, and was consulted on all sides by those desiring infor- 
mation. His " Notes on Virginia " were published in English 
and French during his residence in Europe, and had a marked 
effect. He also exerted himself to procure information in 
Europe for his countrymen at home. " He kept four colleges — 
Harvard, Yale, William and Mary and the College of Phila- 
delphia — advised of the new inventions, discoveries, conjectures, 
books, that seemed important." Congress was regularly in- 
formed of such mechanical and other inventions and improve- 
ments as seemed to promise good to the industry of the young 
republic. Mr. Jefferson made a journey into Piedmont and 
obtained samples of the fine rice of that country, which he 
forwarded to South Carolina. It was carefully planted and 
nourished, and from these samples dates the improvement in 
the quality of American rice. Agricultural information was 
carefully collected by him and forwarded, together with seeds, 
roots and bulbs, to his correspondents in America. " There 
was no end of his services to the infant unskilled agriculture 
of his country." He traveled through France, England and 
a part of Italy, enjoying with a keen relish the artistic treasures 
and natural beauties of those countries, and carefully noting 
down and sending home accounts of whatever he thought could 
be useful to his fellow citizens. 

The result of his travels and residence in Europe was to 
make him a better Republican than ever. He watched the 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 1 63 

growing troubles of France with the deepest interest, and wit- 
nessed the opening events of the French Revolution. He was 
intimate with the leaders of the patriot party, and his advice 
went far tc shape their course. This was the purer era of the 
great struggle, when it had not degenerated into the madness 
of the Reign of Terror. A Republican to the heart's core, 
his sympathies were with the Revolutionists, and this friendship 
gave coloring to his whole subsequent career. " His sympathy 
with that supreme effort of France to escape the oppression of 
outgrown institutions Avas entire and profound, but it was also 
considerate and wise. * * To the last, his constant advice was. 
Save the monarchy ; France is not ripe for a republic ; get a 
Constitution that will secure substantial liberty and essential 
rights, and wait for the rest." 

In November, 1788, Mr. Jefferson applied for leave of absence, 
as he wished to take his daughters back to Virginia, and late 
in August, 1789, received permission to return home. As he 
expected to be back in Paris in a few months, he left his affairs 
unsettled. His five years' residence abroad had been of the 
greatest benefit to him, and had completed his education as a 
public man. " He had become a swift, cool, adroit, thoroughly 
trained, and perfectly accomplished minister ; and this, with- 
out ceasing to be a man and a citizen, without hardening and 
narrowing into the professional diplomatist, without losing his 
interest or his faith in mankind." 

On the 1 8th of November, 1789, he landed at Norfolk with 
his daughters. They were ten days in reaching Richmond, 
where Mr. Jefferson was cordially received by the Legislature 
of the State. 

In the meantime, the old Articles of Confederation had been 
superseded by the Constitution of the United States, and the 
new Government had been inaugurated with Washington at its 
head. On the day that he landed at Norfolk, Mr. Jefferson 
read the announcement in the newspapers that President Wash- 
ington had appointed him Secretary of State. From Richmond 
Mr. Jefferson went with his daughters to the residence of his 
brother-in-law, Mr. Eppes, in Chesterfield, where he received 
the letter of President Washington, enclosing his commission 
as Secretary of State, and urging him to accept the place. 



164 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Jefferson's wish was to return to Paris, and he so wrote to the 
President, but stated that he would be guided by his decision. 
Washington decided that he should take his place in the Cabi- 
net, and he consented to sacrifice his own wishes. Having 
answered the President's first letter, Jefferson and his daugh- 
ters returned to Monticello. He remained at home nearly two 
months to arrange his affairs, and to be present at the marriage 
of his daughter Martha to Thomas Mann Randolph, and then 
set out for New York, where he arrived on Sunday, March 
2 1st, 1790. He at once entered upon his duties as Secretary 
of State in the Cabinet of President Washington. 

The business of his office was greatly in arrears, and he 
went at it with such energy that his health began to suffer. 
He had accepted the office solely from a sense of public duty, 
and he was homesick all the time he held it. The relations 
between the President and himself were of the most cordial 
nature. Each possessed the perfect confidence of the other. 
His position was not pleasant to him, however. The tone of 
New York society was eminently aristocratic, and there were 
not wanting those who wished to give to the new Government 
a character suited to this feeling. Thomas Jefferson never 
forgot that the Federal Government was a government by 
and for the people, and he had no patience with any wish to 
change its popular form. Besides, he was fresh from France, 
where he had seen the miseries springing from aristocratic 
rule. He was especially sensitive upon this point — perhaps 
unnecessarily so. He recognized Hamilton as the leader of 
the aristocratic party, and became suspicious of him; and so 
these two great men and true patriots became forever separated 
and hostile. Yet the rivalry which sprang up between them was 
unavoidable. Jefferson was the natural leader of the people; 
Hamilton was a born aristocrat. Mr. Jefferson did not favor 
Hamilton's scheme for the assumption of the State debts by 
Congress ; but the situation was so grave, and the contest had be- 
come so bitter in Congress, that he consented to act as mediator 
between the opposing parties, and brought about the compro- 
mise by which the Southern men in Congress consented to the 
assumption of the State debts, and the Northern delegates voted 
to locate the capital of the nation on the banks of the Potomac. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 165 

The duties of the Secretary of State were not very clearly 
defined at first, and for awhile the affairs of the post-office and 
patent-office were in his hands. The question of establishing 
a Mint was referred to him by Congress for his opinion, and he 
urged the prompt establishment of such an institution. A 
Mint was thereupon located at Philadelphia. In the fall of 1 790, 
the seat of Government was removed from New York to Phila- 
delphia. 

As Secretary of State it was Mr. Jefferson's business to con- 
duct the negotiations with England for the compliance of that 
power with the terms of the Treaty of Paris. He was not able 
to bring England to an honest performance of her engagements, 
and went out of office before Jay's Treaty was arranged. 
Another source of anxiety to him was the relations of the coun- 
tiy with France. He was the faithful friend of the French 
Republic, and though he bitterly deplored the excesses of the 
Revolutionists, he did not, like many of his countrymen, re- 
gard these crimes as inseparable from the great work in which 
France was engaged. He did justice to the French people, 
saw clearly that the excesses of the ultra radicals must be short 
lived, and believed that out of all this trouble great good would 
result to France and to the world. His opponents, however, 
charged him with sympathizing with the barbarities of the 
Terrorists, and painted him to the people of this country, who 
had been shocked by the excesses of the French, as the em- 
bodiment of Atheistic and Socialistic principles. Even the red 
waistcoat which he wore was denounced as a badge of his horrid 
creed. When M. Genet was sent to the United States as the 
Envoy of the French Republic, Jefferson warmly favored his 
reception, and maintained that the treaties with France were 
with the nation, and not with the King, and were not annulled 
by the changes that had taken place. Hamilton, on the 
contrary, maintained that they were with the King. Upon 
Genet's arrival, Mr. Jefferson endeavored to restrain him 
within the bounds of moderation, and gave no encouragement 
to the extravagance and insolence of that minister. On the 
contrary he consistently supported the President in his deter- 
mination to preserve the neutrality of the country, and one 
of his last official acts was to administer to Genet a dignified 



1 66 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

rebuke which made the wily Frenchman writhe with mortifi- 
cation. 

The antagonism between Jefferson and Hamilton deepened 
into an open quarrel, and their continued warfare gave the 
President no little trouble. Had Hamilton possessed the 
moderation of his rival, Washington's efforts at mediation might 
have been successful. As it was, the quarrel became more 
bitter every' day. The National Gazette, published at Phila- 
delphia by Philip Freneau, who was a translator in the State 
Department, had come to be the organ of the Republican party. 
The Federalist party charged that this paper was Jefferson's 
organ, and attributed its utterances to him. In this they were 
wrong. " I never did," said Mr. Jefferson subsequently, " by 
myself or any other, or indirectly, say a syllable, nor attempt 
any kind of influence, * * * nor write, dictate, or procure any 
one sentence to be inserted in Freneau's or any other gazette, to 
which my name was not affixed, or that of my office." Hamilton 
took the articles in Freneau's paper, as coming from Jefferson, 
who had already offended him by his opposition to his policy 
in the Cabinet. He therefore attacked him in a series of bitter 
articles published under fictitious names in Fenno's Gazette of 
the United States. The President attempted to make peace 
between the Secretaries, but without success. 

The quarrel spread beyond the Cabinet, and Jefferson found 
himself, through no act of his own, acknowledged as the chief 
of the party which was resolved to preserve the popular form 
of the Government, and which called itself the Republican party. 
Among the leaders of this party were Madison and Monroe. 
In the heat of the controversy Jefferson believed that Hamilton 
and his party designed to bring about the downfall of the Re- 
public and the establishment of a monarchy. Washington, 
calmer and more sagacious, set him right in a few words. 
" Desires there may be, bnt not designs," he said. 

At last there came a season of relief to the hard-worked 
Secretary of State. He determined to withdraw from the 
Cabinet. His most powerful reason was that he was not able 
to live upon the salary of his office and not rich enough to 
make up the deficiency from his private purse. His private 
affairs demanded his attention. Besides, he was tired of the 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 1 6/ 

false position in which he was placed. " Before he had been a 
year in office the Secretary of State had enough of it. Scrupu- 
lously avoiding all interference with the departments of his col- 
leagues, never lobbying, immersed in the duties of his place, he 
found himself borne along by Hamilton's restless impetuosity, 
and compelled to aid in the execution of a policy which he 
could as little approve as prevent. He was nominally the head 
of the Cabinet, without possessing the ascendency that belonged 
to his position. He seemed to himself at once responsible and 
impotent ; and he believed the sway of Hamilton over public 
affairs to be illegitimate, and to be upheld by illegitimate 
means." He had meant to resign his office at the close of 
Washington's first term, but yielded to the entreaty of the 
President to remain; but his private affairs now leaving him no 
choice, he resigned his Secretaryship on the ist of January, 
1794. The President, in accepting his resignation, wrote: 
" The opinion which I had formed of your integrity and talents 
and which dictated your original nomination, has been con- 
firmed by the fullest experience, and both have been eminently 
displayed in the discharge of your duty." 

He had the good fortune to withdraw from the Cabinet 
under the happiest circumstances. His correspondence with 
the French and English ministers was published at the meeting 
of Congress, and showed his patriotic and upright course in 
his negotiations with them so clearly that his enemies were 
conciliated for the moment; his friends were in raptures. 

Returning to Monticello, Mr. Jefferson resumed the manage- 
ment of his estate, which had been almost allowed to go to 
ruin by the overseers during the ten years' absence of the 
master. He soon brought affairs to a better condition, and 
once more devoted himself to the completion of his mansion. 
He proved an excellent farmer, and was so successful in his 
efforts that two years after his return his estate was in such 
capital order that it seemed to a visitor a model farm. 

In 1796 he was nominated by the Republican party for the 
Presidency. His opponent was John Adams, the candidate .of 
the Federalist party. At the election Mr. Adams received the 
highest number of votes, and was declared elected President of 
the United States. Mr. Jefferson receiving the next highest 



1 68 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

number, became the Vice-President. The vote in the Electoral 
College stood as follows: Adams, 71 ; Jefferson, 68. As Vice- 
President, Mr. Jefferson supported the President's determination 
to seek to adjust the quarrel with France by peaceful means. 
He stoutly opposed the Alien and Sedition laws and the other 
repressive measures, which he deemed violative of the Consti- 
tution. He became the leader of the opposition, and worked 
with energy to enlighten the public mind upon the questions 
at issue. He was bitterly denounced by the Federalist party, 
whose measures for the subversion of the Constitution found 
no mercy at his hands; but he did not shrink from his duty. 
In 1800 Mr. Jefferson was nominated for the Presidency by the 
Republicans, and was once more the object of the slanders 
with which his opponents deluged the country. He was 
denounced by the Federalists as an atheist, a libertine, a 
socialist, and an enemy to all government; but the Federalist 
party had so outraged the nation by their sins against the Con- 
stitution that it was clear to the public that the only weapon 
they had left was slander, and Mr. Jefferson had shown himself 
too great and pure a man for these "campaign lies" to injure 
him. In the Electoral College Jefferson and Aaron Burr 
received an equal number of votes. The election therefore 
passed into the House of Representatives, by which Mr. Jeffer- 
son was elected President and Burr Vice-President. 

Mr. Jefferson was the first President inaugurated in the new 
Federal city of Washington, and entered upon his duties on 
the 4th of March, 1801. We have only space here to sketch 
the leading events of his administration. 

Mr. Jefferson's first act as President was to pardon and release 
all prisoners under the Alien and Sedition laws. When Con- 
gress met in December, 1801, the President found a strong 
majority of his own party in each house, on whose support he 
could rely. The obnoxious measures of the last administra- 
tion, such as the internal taxes, the taxes on stills, distilled 
spirits, refined sugars, carriages, stamped paper, etc., were re- 
pealed. Measures were set on foot for the reduction of the pub- 
lic debt, and the President inaugurated the reign of economy 
by reducing the number of public employees to the minimum. 
"As soon as his election was known, some of his friends urged 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 1 69 

him to conciliate the Federalists by appointing a few of their 
leaders to office. His answer was, No ; the mass of the party- 
being Republican at heart, will be conciliated by a consistent 
adherence to Republican principles. * * Besides, every office 
in the country, in the gift of the President was already filled 
by a Federalist, * * * and he thought it only right that all 
vacancies should be given to Republicans, until there should 
be at least as many of them in office as Federalists. * * Jef- 
ferson took great care to get the right man for the right place. 
* * * He would not give an appointment to a relative. * * 
He turned no man out of office because he was opposed to 
him in politics. And yet he did, during the first two years of 
his first term, remove twenty-six Federalists, and appoint Re- 
publicans in their stead. After that there were scarcely any 
removals ; and Republicans were only appointed to vacancies 
created by death or resignation." The twenty-six persons 
mentioned were removed from office for good and sufficient 
reasons. 

Mr. Jefferson was utterly opposed to the Court etiquette 
that had grown up during the first two administrations of the 
Government, and promptly abolished it. He discontinued the 
weekly levee and retained only the public receptions of the ist 
of January and the 4th of July. He was always accessible 
to those who had business with him, or who were entitled to 
attention at his hands, but never permitted mere social visits to 
consume the time which belonged to his public duties. He 
also inaugurated the custom which has since prevailed, of 
sending a written message to the two Houses of Congress at 
the opening of each session. 

While Secretary of State, Mr. Jefferson had been called upon 
to oppose a firm and successful resistance to the schemes for 
placing the mouth of the Mississippi and New Orleans under 
British control. He had always regarded the possession of 
Louisiana by the United States as of vital importance to the 
prosperity of this country, and he now had an opportunity of 
carrying out his views with reference to it. He instructed R. 
R. Livingston, the American Minister at Paris, to open negoti- 
ations with the French Government for the purchase of the 
province of Louisiana. This was an easier task than he had 



I/O AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

supposed it would be. Napoleon was in need of money, and was 
anxious to be relieved of the necessity of defending so large 
and distant a possession, and readily sold the whole region of 
Louisiana to the United States for the sum of ;^ 1 5 ,000,000. 
The purchase was made in April, 1803. It was of the highest 
importance ; it about doubled the territory of the Union, and 
placed the whole of the Mississippi Valley within the limits of 
the Republic. 

While Minister to France, Mr. Jefferson had been obliged to 
conduct the humiliating negotiations with the Barbary powers 
of Africa, by which the United States purchased exemption 
from their piracies. In 1 801, as President, he resolved to treat 
these States as the enemies of mankind. He despatched a fleet 
of vessels of war to the Mediterranean and compelled the Bey 
of Tripoli to sue for peace in 1805. 

In the fall of 1804 Mr. Jefferson was elected President a 
second time, but this time Colonel Burr was dropped by his 
party, which elected George Clinton, of New York, Vice Presi- 
dent. Burr had at last experienced the reward of his insin- 
cerity ; both parties had come to distrust him. After his 
defeat for the Vice Presidency, he was nominated for Governor 
of New York, but was defeated mainly through the influence 
of Alexander Hamilton. He avenged himself by challenging 
Hamilton and killing him in a duel. This put an end to his 
own political career. Mr. Jefferson declined to appoint him to 
any important office under the Government, for he had never 
trusted him. A little later Burr became involved in the 
western schemes, which caused his arrest and trial for treason. 

Mr. Jefferson continued the policy of neutrality in the quar- 
rels of Europe inaugurated by President Washington. As the 
struggle in the Old World deepened, the efforts of the principal 
combatants to draw the United States into it increased. The 
general character of the European war had thrown the com- 
merce of the world into the hands of the few nations which 
had not engaged in the struggle. The principal of these was 
the United States. England viewed with alarm the rapid 
growth of the commercial prosperity of this country. By its 
"Orders in Council" that Government declared all vessels 
engaged in conveying West India produce from the United 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. I/I 

States to Europe, legal prizes. A number of American vessels 
were captured and condemned upon this pretext. In May, 
1 806, Great Britain declared the coast of Europe, from Brest to 
the mouth of the Elbe, in a state of blockade, and forbade 
neutral vessels to trade with any port within these prescribed 
limits on pain of capture and confiscation. This high-handed 
measure was a direct blow at the commerce of America. It 
was met by an act on the part of France equally unjust and 
destructive to that commerce. Napoleon issued his famous 
" Berlin decree," by which he declared the whole coast of Great 
Britain in a state of blockade, and forbade the introduction of 
British goods into the French Empire, and the admission into 
French ports of any neutral vessel that should first touch at 
an English port. Great Britain thereupon forbade all neutral 
nations to trade with France; and Napoleon issued his "Milan 
decree," ordering the confiscation of all vessels that should 
disobey the " Berlin decree," and also of those which should 
submit to be searched by an English cruiser. Thus was the 
commerce of the world placed at the mercy of these powers. 
The Americans were the chief sufferers by these outrages. 
Their ships were captured by both British and French cruisers, 
and their remonstrances produced no effect. Unfortunately, 
Mr. Jefferson, in his desire for economy in the Government, had 
pursued a most unfavorable policy towards the navy, and the 
country had not ships of war enough to protect its commerce. 
The European powers were encouraged by this helplessness, 
and their outrages upon American property increased. The 
popular feeling in America was stronger against Great Britain 
than against France, partly because of the old attachment to 
the latter power, and partly because England, being the stronger 
power at sea, was the principal and the original aggressor. The 
British Government claimed the right to stop American vessels 
on the high seas and search them for deserters. Under this 
head they included all persons born within the British domin- 
ions, whether naturalized American citizens or not. When 
found on American vessels, these persons were removed by 
force, and compelled to serve in the English navy. The British 
officers also seized large numbers of native-born American 
seamen, and forced them into their navy. 



172 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The Government of the United States addressed urgent re- 
monstrances to that of Great Britain against these outrages, 
and finally, in the spring of 1806, sent William Pinckney as 
joint commissioner with James Monroe, then Minister to Eng- 
land, for the purpose of negotiating a treaty which should put 
a stop to the acts complained of The Commissioners suc- 
ceeded in negotiating a treaty which was, on the whole, more 
favorable to the United States than Jay's treaty, but as it did 
not provide for the discontinuance of the searching of Ameri- 
can vessels or the impressment of their seamen by British 
cruisers, Mr. Jefferson assumed the responsibility of rejecting 
it in the spring of 1807, without submitting it to the Senate. 

Matters were now brought to a crisis by the insolence of a 
British naval commander. The frigate Chesapeake, 38, Com- 
modore Barron, sailed from Norfolk for the Mediterranean. 
She put to sea before her preparations for sailing were com- 
pleted, and while her crew were unused to their duties. In this 
helpless condition she was stopped off the mouth of the Chesa- 
peake Bay by the British frigate Leopard, of fifty guns, fired 
upon, and compelled to surrender. Four of her crew were 
removed to the Leopard, on the pretense that they were de- 
serters, and the British frigate sailed for Halifax, leaving the 
crippled Chesapeake to return to Norfolk. 

The news of this outrage excited the profoundest indigna- 
tion throughout the United States. " I had only to open my 
hand," said Mr. Jefferson, afterwards, " and let havoc loose." 
The moderation and firmness of the President were now shown 
in a conspicuous light. He was opposed to war, if a peaceful 
settlement could be had, and while he did not intend to shrink 
from the former, he resolved to make an effort to secure the 
latter. He at once despatched a frigate to England with in- 
structions to the American Minister to demand reparation for 
the outrage; and on the 2d of July, 1807, issued a proclama- 
tion forbidding all naval vessels of England from entering 
American waters, excepting only those in distress and those 
bearing despatches. Two thousand militia were posted along 
the coast to prevent the British vessels from obtaining supplies. 
A special session of Congress was summoned; every available 
vessel of the navy was made ready for active service, and De- 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 1/3 

catur, commanding at Norfolk, was ordered to attack the British 
fleet then anchored within the capes of the Chesapeake, if it 
should attempt to pass higher up the bay. The President ex- 
pected war, and he meant to make it a vigorous one if it could 
not be avoided honorably. The British Government, however, 
received information of the affair before the arrival of the 
American demand. The action of the commander of the Leo- 
pard was disavowed, and a special messenger was sent to the 
United States to arrange the matter. Great Britain disclaimed 
the right to search vessels of war, and the excitement was 
quieted for a time. 

In December, 1806, as the outrages upon American com- 
merce were continued by the European powers, Congress, 
at the recommendation of the President, passed the " Embargo 
Act," by which all merchant vessels of the United States were 
prevented from leaving the ports of this country. This measure 
entirely put an end to the intercourse between the United States 
and Europe. It was hoped by the President and his supporters 
that the measure would compel Great Britain and France, by 
the loss of our manufactures and supplies, which were very 
necessary to both, to put a stop to their arbitrary course. The 
measure was regarded by both Napoleon and the Edinburgh 
Reviciv as a statesmanlike act, and Mr. Jefferson, to the day of 
his death, believed that if it had been faithfully carried out it 
would have accomplished its object and have saved us the 
second war with England. It was utterly unpopular in the 
Eastern and Middle States, yet it was in the end a benefit to 
them. Thousands of persons were thrown out of employment 
by the enforced idleness of the ships, and many of these turned 
their attention to manufacturing pursuits, which thus received a 
decided impetus. The loss caused to the shipping interests was 
considerable, and the disaffection became so great that just 
before the expiration of his term of office Mr. Jefferson recom- 
mended to Congress the repeal of the Embargo Act, as a 
measure of conciliation. The law was repealed on the ist of 
March, 1809, and in the same month Congress passed an act 
prohibiting trade with France and England. 

Mr. Jefferson declined to be a candidate for a third term, and 
upon the inauguration of Mr. Madison, his successor, withdrew 



174 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

from Washington and retired to Monticello. He retired from 
office with undiminished popularity, and with the respect and 
confidence of the nation. His great services in the Revolution, 
his draft of the Declaration of Independence, his acquisition of 
Louisiana, and the purity and grandeur of his character, placed 
him, notwithstanding the malice of his enemies, next to Wash- 
ington in the public estimation. 

The last seventeen years of Mr. Jefferson's life were spent 
in retirement at Monticello. He was still the principal person- 
age in the United States, and did not by any means lose his 
interest in public affairs. Mr. Madison, whose education he 
had in a measure directed, consulted him constantly, and his 
counsels largely shaped the policy of the Government. " When 
there was dissension in the Cabinet, it was Mr. Jefferson who 
restored harmony." 

Monticello was overrun with guests during these years. 
"They traveled," says Mr. Bacon, Mr. Jefferson's manager, "in 
gangs ; sometimes a whole family, with carriage and riding 
horses, and servants ; sometimes three or four such gangs at a 
time." These guests, many of whom were entire strangers to 
Mr. Jefferson, entailed a heavy expense upon their host. " He 
knew," continues Mr. Bacon, "that it more than used up all his 
income from the plantation and everything else; but he was so 
kind and polite that he received all his visitors with a smile, 
and made them welcome." 

He never permitted his visitors to interfere with his work. 
His mornings were given to his correspondence, the manage- 
ment of his estate, and such other business as was to be 
attended to, and his evenings were spent in the society of 
his friends. " Mr. Jefferson was the most industrious man I 
ever saw," says Mr. Bacon. "I never saw him sitting idle in 
his room but twice. * * At all other times he was either 
reading, writing, talking, working upon some model, or doin^ 
something else. * * * j h^ve rode over the plantation, I 
reckon, a thousand times with Mr. Jefferson; and when he was 
not talking, he was nearly always humming some tune, or 
singing in a low tone to himself" 

One of the pleasantest of the tasks which occupied his time 
was the direction of the education of a number of young men, 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 1/5 

who had asked him to do them this service. "They place 
themselves," he »wrote to a friend, "in the neighboring village, 
and have the use of my library and counsel, and make a part 
of my society. In advising their course of reading, I endeavor 
to keep their attention fixed on the main object of all science, 
the freedom and happiness of man ; so that, coming to bear a 
share in the councils and government of their country, they 
will keep ever in view the sole objects of all legitimate govern- 
ment." 

It had long been one of Mr. Jefferson's dearest wishes to 
introduce into Virginia the free school system of New England, 
but he found that the time had not yet come for such a step. 
For many years he had been desirous of establishing a Uni- 
versity in the State, at which the young men of Virginia could 
obtain a thorough and liberal education. He devoted the last 
fifteen years of his life to this object. His friend, Joseph C. 
Cabell, a member of the State Senate, entered cordially into his 
scheme, and labored for it in the Legislature with ability and 
success. It required all of Mr. Jefferson's popularity and all 
of Mr. Cabell's energy and skill to induce the State to appro- 
priate a sum sufficient to establish the proposed school, but 
by hard work they carried the scheme through both Houses, 
and it received the Governor's approval, and at last the corner- 
stone of the University of Virginia was laid. The site was 
chosen by Mr. Jefferson, and was within five miles of Monti- 
cello. Mr. Jefferson gave his personal superintendence to the 
erection of the buildings — in short, every detail of the work 
passed through his hands — and when it was completed was 
appointed Rector, and was mainly instrumental in establishing 
the peculiar and excellent system upon which this noble insti- 
tution is conducted. At last he had the happiness of seeing 
the end of his work, and in March, 1825, the University was 
opened with forty students. 

The last years of Mr. Jefferson were passed under the pres- 
sure of heavy debt. His salary had not supported him during 
his Presidency, and he had been obliged to pay a large part of 
his expenses out of his private means. He left Washington 
owing twenty thousand dollars. The war of 181 2-1 5, which 
followed so soon, rendered the products of his farm almost 



1/6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

worthless. He could not bear the sense of debt, and at the 
close of the war relieved himself of it by the greatest sacrifice 
he could make. The Library of Congress had been burned by 
the British. He offered Congress his own library, which was 
estimated by the committee to be worth $23,000 — about half of 
its cost. Mr. Jefferson accepted this beggarly sum, in order 
that his enemies might not make the purchase an occasion of 
injury to his friends; and Congress did not have the honesty to 
afford him substantial relief by paying the real value of this 
magnificent collection. The loss of his library was a hard blow 
to him, but he bore it with characteristic cheerfulness. He was 
not at the end of his troubles, however, for he had endorsed 
for one of his old friends and connections to the amount of 
^20,000. His friend became bankrupt, and Mr. Jefferson had 
to assume the crushing debt. After vainly seeking to pay it, 
he sought relief by asking authority of the Legislature to dis- 
pose of one of his farms by means of a lottery. The desired 
permission was granted, but in the meantime it had become 
rumored throughout the country that the author of the Decla- 
ration of Independence was about to lose Monticello. A feel- 
ing of generous sympathy was aroused, and voluntary sub- 
scriptions for Mr. Jefferson's relief were begun. New York 
sent him $8,500; Philadelphia, $5,000; and Baltimore $3,000. 
The lottery was abandoned, and Mr. Jefferson accepted the 
relief tendered him by his countrymen with gratitude and with 
pride. 

Up to the spring of 1826, Mr. Jefferson had enjoyed such 
good health that his family had not noticed the gradual decay 
of his bodily vigor. His mind remained vigorous until the 
end; but in the early summer of 1826 he was confined to his 
bed by growing weakness. " I am like an old watch," he said, 
" with a pinion worn out here and a wheel there, until it can go 
no longer." He grew weaker steadily, but suffered no pain, 
and conversed calmly and cheerfully with those about him. 
He was satisfied that his end was at hand, but he felt no 
"solicitude about the result." During the third of July he 
slept a great deal, under the influence of opiates. He was 
anxious to live until the next day — the day he had helped to 
render immortal. Towards midnight Mr. N. P. Trist, the hus- 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. I// 

band of one of his granddaughters, sat by his bed watching 
him. " This is the fourth ?" asked the dying man, rousing 
himself Mr. Trist made him no answer, as he could not bear 
to tell him "no." A little later Mr. Jefferson repeated his 
question — " This is the fourth ?" Mr. Trist nodded affirmatively 
this time. "Ah!" sighed the dying patriot, an expression of 
relief settling over his features. He sank into a deep sleep, and 
remained tranquil through the night. He lingered until the 
next day, and at twenty minutes to one in the afternoon on the 
4th of July, 1826, the well-spent life of Thomas Jefferson was 
ended. 

At the same time, in his far-off home in Massachusetts, John 
Adams, who had seconded the motion for a Declaration of 
Independence, and had been its best champion, was dying. He 
passed away with the setting sun, 

Mr. Jefferson was buried at Monticello. A granite obelisk 
was erected over his grave, bearing the following inscription, 
which was found among his papers : — 

HERE WAS BURIED 

THOMAS JEFFERSON, 

AUTHOR OF 
THE DECLARATION OF 

AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, 

OF THE 

STATUTE OF VIRGINIA 

FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, 

AND 

FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY 

OF VIRGINIA. 

12 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 

NATHANIEL GREENE was born in the town of Warwick, 
Kent county, Rhode Island, on the 26th day of May, 1742. 
His father was an anchor smith, and a member of the Society 
of Friends. Young Greene followed the plough during his 
boyhood, and occasionally worked at his father's forge. He 
received only a common school education, but being possessed 
of a genuine thirst for knowledge, gave all his spare time, after 
leaving school, to reading and study. He earned his own liv- 
ing from a very early age, and invested all his spare money in 
books. He was fond of mathematics, and Plutarch's Lives and 
Caesar's Commentaries were his delight. He applied himself 
to military studies, and pored with eagerness over the cam- 
paigns of the great masters of the art of war — a strange taste in 
one bred in the peaceful community to which he belonged. 

He was a great favorite with his fellow townsmen, and when 
quite a young man was elected to a seat in the Assembly of 
his native Colony. He entered upon his public career when 
the troubles between the Colonies and the Mother Country 
were rapidly approaching a crisis. From the first he had no 
hesitation as to the course he should pursue if the worst came 
to the worst. He was an American first, a Quaker afterwards; 
and laying aside his peaceful principles as unsuited to the times, 
he declared himself in favor of armed resistance to Great Bri- 
tain. This patriotic decision cost him his fellowship in the 
religious body in which he had been bred, and was followed by 
his immediate dismission from the Society of Friends. 

In 1774 he became a private in a military company, com- 
manded by James M. Varnum, afterwards a brigadier-general. 
He did not remain in this humble capacity long, for he was 
regarded as the best informed military man in his province, and 
when Rhode Island, in May, 1775, raised three regiments of 

militia as her contingent to the army before Boston, Greene 

(178) 




NATHANIEL GREENE. 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 1 79 

was appointed to the chief command of them, and marched 
them at once to Cambridge. They were regarded as the best 
disciplined and equipped troops in the army. Upon the arrival 
of Washington in the camp, to assume the command of the 
army, he was received in the camp of the Rhode Island brigade 
with a soldier-like address of welcome from Greene. 

Washington was deeply impressed with the frank and manly 
bearing of Greene. " His appearance and manner were calcu- 
lated to make a favorable impression. He was about thirty-nine 
years of age, about six feet high; well-built and vigorous, with 
an open, animated, intelligent countenance, and a frank, manly 
demeanor." A mutual friendship was thus begun between 
these truly great men, which never wavered, but grew stronger 
with the lapse of time. Greene regarded the Commander-in- 
chief with an enthusiastic reverence, and Washington's confi- 
dence in and affection for him were unlimited. It was his wish 
that, in the event of his death during the war. General Greene 
should be appointed his successor in the chief command. 

Greene was appointed a brigadier-general by Congress, and 
during the siege of Boston his command formed a part of the 
left wing, under Major General Charles Lee. During the 
difficulties and trials of this investment, he gave to Washington 
not only his cordial and intelligent co-operation in the efforts 
to organize the army upon an effective footing, but also his 
sympathy in his trials and disappointments. " No one drew 
closer to Washington in this time of his troubles and perplexi- 
ties," says Irving, " than General Greene." He had a real 
veneration for his character, and thought himself happy in the 
opportunity to serve under so good a general. He grieved at 
Washington's annoyances, but attributed them in part to his 
being somewhat of a stranger in New England. He was one 
of tliL' few officers of rank who supported the plan of the 
Commander-in-chief for carrying Boston by assault. 

During the season of relaxation which followed the evacua- 
tion of Boston, Greene employed himself with his military 
studies. He was placed by Washington in charge of the 
important line of works which had been thrown up beyond 
Brooklyn on Long Island, and set to work to mature a plan of 
defense. Unfortunately, in the midst of his preparations, and 



l80 AiMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

just before the advance of the British, he was seized with a 
raging fever, and was obliged to relinquish his command to 
General Sullivan. On the 26th of August, 1776, the day 
before the battle of Long Island, he was promoted by Congress 
to the rank of major-general in the regular army. He returned 
to duty as soon as he was able to mount his horse, and was 
given command of all the troops in New Jersey. He was 
charged to keep up a communication with the m.ain army east 
of the Hudson, so as to secure a retreat for Washington in 
case of necessity. Pie established his headquarters at Fort 
Lee, on the Hudson, and kept a sharp lookout upon the British 
at the mouth of the river. 

Upon the withdrawal of the American army across the 
Hudson, Washington left it to General Greene's discretion to 
hold or evacuate Fort Washington. Greene committed the 
error of believing that the work could be held, an opinion in 
which he was sustained by Colonel Magaw, the commander of 
the fort. He believed that if the fort should be found unten- 
able, the garrison could at any time be drawn off under the 
guns of Fort Lee, on the Jersey shore, immediately opposite. 
He perceived his error too late. On the i6th of November 
Fort Washington was captured, and the loss of this work com- 
pelled the evacuation of Fort Lee. Before the latter operation 
was completed, Lord Cornwallis landed above Fort Lee with a 
strong force, and made a push to secure the line of retreat of 
the American army. Washington by a rapid march threw his 
force in advance of the British, and the memorable retreat 
across New Jersey began. 

During this dark and trying period Greene was cheerful and 
even hopeful. He did not believe that such a cause could be 
lost so easily. He had nothing but brav^e and encouraging 
words for his troops, and he rendered a hearty and zealous 
support to every measure of the Commander-in-chief. He 
cordially endorsed the plan of Washington for re-crossing the 
Delaware and striking a blow at the Hessians at Trenton and 
in the battle which ensued bore a distinguished and honorable 
part. He favored the re-occupation of Trenton at the close of 
the year 1776, and endorsed the plan of Washington for the 
flank march to Princeton on the night of the 2d of January, 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 1 1 

1777. He executed his part of the movement with daring and 
skill, and bore himself with his usual credit in the battle of 
Princeton. Indeed, during the whole of this trying period, he 
was Washington's chief reliance and most confidential associate. 
Duiing the winter Washington sent him to Philadelphia to lay 
before Congress such matters as he could not trust to a letter. 
"He is an able and good officer," wrote the Commander 
in-chief, "who has my entire confidence, and is intimately 
acquainted with my ideas." 

When the American army took position at Chadd's Ford to 
dispute the passage of the Brandywine, Greene's division, 
which consisted of Weedon's and Muhlenburg's brigades of 
Virginia troops, was held in reserve, and kept in readiness to 
support either wing of the army. In the battle of the Brandy- 
wine, on the nth of September, 1777, the British succeeded in 
gaining the rear of the right wing of the Americans, which was 
commanded by General Sullivan. They attacked with vigor, 
and succeeded in driving back both wings of the American 
army. 

Greene was preparing to go to the assistance of the left wing, 
when he received urgent orders from Washington to support 
the right under Sullivan, which was in danger of being sur- 
rounded. He moved forward with his troops at a run, and 
marched a distance of five miles in less than fifty-five minutes. 
He found the battle lost, and the broken masses of Sullivan's 
troops in full retreat. Not a moment was to be lost, and 
throwing his command between the enemy and his beaten 
countrymen, he checked the advance of the pursuers by a sharp 
and well-directed fire of artillery. Falling back slowly, Greene 
was met by an order from Washington to occupy a second 
position about a mile beyond Dilworth, and cover the retreat 
of the army. Sending his artillery to the rear to ensure its 
safety, he held his new line with small arms until the army 
had gotten off in safety. He then fell back slowly and in good 
order in the face of the enemy, who were unable to gain any 
advantage over him. His firmness alone saved the army from 
a total rout. 

Greene was justly proud of the splendid conduct of his 
troops, and was very much vexed when Washington failed to 



1 82 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

notice it in the general orders issued after the battle. He went 
to the Commander-in-chief and remonstrated against what he 
deemed an injustice to his men. 

" You, sir," said Washington in reply, " are considered my 
favorite officer. Weedon's brigade, like myself, are Virginians. 
Should I applaud them for their achievement, under your com- 
mand, I should be charged with partiality ; jealousy will be 
excited, and the service injured." 

" Sir," broke in Greene, with great warmth, " I trust your 
Excellency will do me the justice to believe that I am not 
selfish. In my own behalf, I have nothing to ask. Act towards 
me as you please ; I shall not complain. However richly I 
prize your Excellency's good opinion and applause, a con- 
sciousness that I have endeavored to do my duty, constitutes 
at present my richest reward. But do not, sir, let me entreat 
you, on account of the jealousy that may arise in little minds, 
withhold justice from the brave fellows I had the honor to 
command." 

Washington refused to grant Greene's request, as he was 
convinced that prudence required such a course on his part, 
Greene, upon reflection, saw that the Commander-in-chief was 
right, and at once went to him and apologized frankly for his 
intemperate manner, if not for his expressions. Washington, 
delighted with this exhibition of the inborn nobleness of his 
friend, held out his hand, and said with a smile, "An officer, 
tried as you have been, who errs but once in two years, deserves 
to be forgiven." 

This was their nearest approach to a misunderstanding during 
the entire war. 

At the battle of Germantown, on the 4th of October, 1777, 
Greene commanded the left wnng of the American army. He 
drove the enemy rapidly before him, and had reached the 
centre of the town with his own division, when the army was 
suddenly seized with an unaccountable panic, and retreated from 
the victory that was within its grasp. He covered the retreat 
of the army with his division, and displayed such good gen- 
eralship in holding the enemy at bay, that he won the cordial 
praise of the Commander-in-chief Thanks to him, the Ameri- 
cans were able to carry off all their artillery and wounded. 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 1 83 

During the winter of 1777-78, the American army experi- 
enced the greatest difficulty in obtaining suppHes of all kinds. 
A great deal of this was due to the inefficient management of 
the Quartermaster's Department. A reform in this branch of 
the service was imperative, and Washington prevailed upon 
Congress to confer the office of Quartermaster-General upon 
General Greene, whose great executive ability he wished to 
secure for it. He knew that Greene was devoted to his pro- 
fession, and that to ask him to withdraw from the field would 
be to demand a great sacrifice of him. Nevertheless, he be- 
lieved that Greene would accept the post under the circum- 
stances. He thus stated his reason for this belief, in a conver- 
sation with a member of Congress. " There is not," he said, 
" an officer of the army, nor a man in America, more sincerely 
attached to the interests of his country. Could he best pro- 
mote their interests in the character of a corporal, he would 
exchange, as I firmly believe, without a murmur, the epaulet for 
the knot. For although he is not without ambition, that am- 
bition has not for its object the highest rank, so much as the 
greatest good!^ 

When the appointment was offered to General Greene, he 
declined it. Washington summoned him to his headquarters, 
however, and laid before him the necessity for his assuming the 
disagreeable position. Greene thereupon consented to accept 
the appintment, on condition that he should retain his place m 
the line and his right to command in action. He entered upon 
the duties of his office in March, 1778. He declined to receive 
any compensation for his services, as he would do nothing 
that might complicate his position in the line. He held the 
office until the summer of 1780. He found it in great disorder 
and confusion, but by extraordinary exertions and excellent 
system, so arranged as to put the army in a condition to take 
the field and move with rapidity the moment it should be 
required. 

While acting as Quartermaster-General, Greene took part in 
the battle of Monmouth on the 28th of June, 1778. He com- 
manded the right wing, and did much to repair the damage 
caused by the failure of General Charles Lee to execute his 
orders. In July of the same year he was placed in command 



184 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of one of the divisions of Sullivan's expedition to Rhode 
Island. The expedition was a failure, owing to the refusal of 
the French commander to co-operate with Sullivan. 

General Greene's return to his native State was the occasion 
of his receiving many tokens of the affection and esteem with 
which he was regarded by his own people. Among those who 
were prominent in these demonstrations, were several leading 
members of the Society of Friends. They had dismissed him 
with regret from their communion, and had not lost their 
esteem for him. His well won success was a sincere pleasure 
to them. A young officer jestingly asked a Quaker visitor at 
the General's quarters how he could reconcile it with his prin- 
ciples to associate with a man whose trade was war. " Friend," 
replied the Quaker promptly, " it is not a suit of uniform that 
can either make or spoil a man. True, I do not approve of 
this many colored apparel, but whatever may be the form or 
color of his coat, Nathaniel Greene still retains the same sound 
head and virtuous heart that gained him the love and esteem 
of our Society." 

When Knyphausen advanced into New Jersey, to seize the 
passes of the Highlands, in June, 1780, Gen. Greene checked 
his advance in a sharp engagement near Springfield, on the 
23d of June, and compelled him to retreat. 

In the summer of 1780, General Greene, unable to agree 
with Congress upon the management of his department, ten- 
dered his resignation. It was at once accepted, and as his 
independent conduct was displeasing to Congress, there was 
talk in that body of suspending him from his command in the 
line. Washington at once interposed in his behalf, against this 
intended outrage, and by pointing out the evil consequences to 
the army of such an arbitrary use of power, induced Congress 
to refrain from executing its unwise design. 

In the early fall of 1780, Greene was called upon to discharge 
the most painful duty of his life. He was appointed, by Wash- 
ington, President of the Board of Officers convened for the 
trial of Major Andre. Andre was found guilty, and was sen- 
tenced to be hanged as a spy. A strong appeal was made by 
the unfortunate young man, that he might be shot. The Com- 
mander-in-chief referred the matter to his greneral officers. All 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 1 85 

but General Greene advised him to grant Andre's request. 
Greene, " who was well versed in military law, and was a man 
of sound head and kind heart," replied as follows to the Com- 
mander-in-chief: "Andre is either a spy or an innocent man. 
If the latter, to execute him in any way would be murder ; if 
the former, the mode of his death is prescribed by law, and 
you have no right to alter it. Nor is this all. At the present 
alarming crisis of our affairs, the public safety calls for a solemn 
and impressive example. Nothing can satisfy it short of the 
execution of the prisoner as a common spy ; a character of 
which his own confession has clearly convicted him. Beware 
how you suffer your feelings to triumph over your judgment. 
Indulgence to one may be death to thousands. Besides, if you 
shoot the prisoner, instead of hanging him, you will excite sus- 
picion which you will be unable to allay. Notwithstanding all 
your efforts to the contrary, you will awaken public compas- 
sion, and the belief will become general that, in the case of 
Major Andre, there were exculpatory circumstances, entitling 
him to lenity beyond what he received — perhaps entitling him 
to pardon. Hang him, therefore, or set him free." 

Greene's reasoning was conclusive, and the sentence of the 
court was carried out. 

The chief interest of the struggle was now transferred to the 
Southern States, and the disastrous defeat of Gates at Camden, 
on the i6th of August, 1780, rendered it of the highest impor- 
tance that the little army gathering in the South to resist the 
advance of Cornwallis should be commanded by a general of 
tried skill and experience. Congress therefore removed General 
Gates from his command, and ordered the Commander-in-chief 
to appoint an officer to succeed him. Washington at once 
selected Greene for the important post, and his appointment 
was confirmed by Congress. In his letter of instructions to 
General Greene, Washington left him substantially free to 
conduct the campaign according to his own judgment. "I am 
aware," he said, "that the nature of the command will offer you 
embarrassments of a singular and complicated nature; but I 
rely upon your abilities for everything your means will enable 
you to effect." 

General Greene at once set out for his new command, and 



1 86 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

reached Charlotte, North CaroHna, on the 2d of December 
The next day he assumed the command of the Southern army. 
Gates was very sore over his reverses, and was not disposed to 
regard his successor with kindness; but he was treated by 
Greene with so much generosity and sympathy that he was 
completely subdued. "The coldness, if not ill will, with which 
he had hitherto regarded Greene, was at an end ; and, in all his 
subsequent correspondence with him, he addressed him in 
terms of affection." 

The advance of Cornwallis into North Carolina had been 
checked by the defeat of Ferguson's detachment at King's 
Mountain, but the war in the South had only begun. Greene 
found himself at Charlotte, at the head of an army of a little 
over twenty-three hundred men, half of whom were militia. 
The troops were disheartened and cowed by their recent defeat, 
and the officers were careless and inefficient. The whole force 
was badly clothed and fed, and was without tents or camp 
equipage. On his journey from the North, Greene had left 
Baron Steuben in Virginia to collect reinforcements and sup- 
plies and forward them to him. Without waiting for these he 
applied himself to the task of reorganizing his army. " He 
went to work quietly, but resolutely; called no councils of war; 
communicated his plans and intentions to few, and such only as 
were able and willing to aid in executing them. * * His 
efforts were successful ; the army soon began to assume what 
he termed a military complexion. He was equally studious to 
promote harmony among his officers, of whom a number were 
young, gallant, and intelligent. It was his delight to have them 
at his genial but simple table, where parade and restraint were 
banished, and pleasant and instructive conversation was pro- 
moted; which, next to reading, was his great enjoyment. The 
manly benignity of his manners diffused itself round his board, 
and a common sentiment of affection for their chief united the 
young men in a kind of brotherhood," 

Until now General Greene's success had been won while 
executing the orders of Washington. He was now to be tried 
by the most difficult of tests — an independent command —and 
under the most unfavorable circumstances. He was to oppose 
a greatly superior army, led by a commander of ability, and 



NATHANIEL GREENE. 1 8/ 

that with a force which he could never arm, clothe, or feed 
properly. He was constantly under the apprehension that his 
unpaid, ill-clothed, and almost starving army would disband, 
and he was obliged to confess that in such a case he should 
not be able to blame the men. In order to subsist his force 
more easily, he divided it into two columns. One of these, 
about one thousand strong, he placed under command of Gen- 
eral Morgan, and threw it forward to a position in South Caro- 
lina between the Broad and Catawba Rivers, with orders to as- 
semble the militia of that district. With the other division 
he advanced into Chesterfield District, on the east side of 
the Pedee, opposite the Cheraw Hills. 

The task before him was one of immense difficulty. The 
war was conducted with a savage fury by the British, and the 
country was divided between the Patriots and Tories, who pur- 
sued each other with merciless determination. The nature of 
the country also added to his embarrassments. " War here," he 
wrote in one of his letters, " is upon a very different scale to 
what it is at the Northward. It is a plain business there. The 
geography of the countiy reduces its operations to two or 
three points. But here it is everywhere ; and the countiy is 
so full of deep rivers and impassable creeks and swamps, that 
you are always liable to misfortunes of a capital nature." 

Cornwallis, with a superior force, was encamped at Winns- 
borough, South Carolina, about seventy miles south of Greene's 
position. Feeling himself strong enough for such a movement, 
he determined to leave Lord Rawdon with a sufficient force at 
Camden, and by rapid marches throw his army between Greene 
and Virginia. He hoped by this movement to compel Greene 
either to fight him with his present force or to retreat in dis- 
grace from North Carolina. The British commander counted 
upon a general uprising of the royalists and the re-establish- 
ment of the King's authority, upon his occupation of North 
Carolina, after which he meant to overrun Virginia and Mary- 
land. 

In order to prevent Morgan from uniting his forces with 
Greene, Cornwallis sent Colonel Tarleton to attack him with a 
force of i,ioo picked troops and two pieces of artillery. With 
his main force the British commander moved towards the fords 



l88 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of the Broad and Catawba rivers. Tarleton endeavored by 
forced marches to come up with Morgan, and the latter, upon 
learning of his approach, retreated towards the Catawba. Find- 
ing that he could not escape, Morgan halted at the Cowpens, 
where, on the 17th of January, 1781, he was attacked by Tarle- 
ton. The British were routed with a loss of over 300 killed 
and wounded, and 625 prisoners, and their artillery. Tarle- 
ton saved himself only by the speed of his horse. 

Cornwallis moved towards Morgan's line of retreat as soon 
as he heard of Tarleton's defeat, believing that he could over- 
take him while he was still laden with the spoils of his victory. 
Morgan was too good a soldier to be caught in this way. 
Leaving Colonel Pickens under the protection of a flag of truce 
to bury the dead and to attend to the wounded of both armies, 
he resumed his retreat, with his prisoners and spoils, an hour 
or two after the battle, and hurried towards the Catawba, 
which he crossed in safety. Two hours after he had passed 
that stream, the advanced guard of Cornwallis's army appeared 
on the opposite bank, but a sudden rise had so swollen the 
river that the British were unable to ford it. The freshet con- 
tinued several days, and gave Morgan an opportunity to send 
off his prisoners to a place of safety and rest his men. 

As soon as he heard of Morgan's victory at the Cowpens, 
Greene put his troops in motion with orders to join Morgan by 
forced marches, and rode on in advance to the camp of the lat- 
ter. On the last day of January he reached Morgan's camp on 
the east side of the Catawba. The enemy occupied the oppo- 
site bank of the river, which was subsiding. Upon his arrival 
Greene learned that Cornwallis, in order to make sure of over- 
taking the American army, had burned all his heavy baggage 
and stores, and had reduced his army to the strictest light march- 
ing order. He now resolved to retreat into Virginia, where he 
hoped to receive reinforcements, and to wear out the British by 
constantly tempting them with the prospect of a battle, and as 
constantly avoiding one. "It was the Fabian policy he had 
learned under Washington, of whom he prided himself on being 
a disciple." 

Morgan was ordered to move off silently, on the evening of 
the 31st of January and to march rapidly all night so as to 



NATHANIEL GREENE. I 89 

gain a good start in advance, while Greene remained to check 
the enemy as long as possible and bring off the militia. 

On the night of the 31st, the British army passed the Ca- 
tawba and dispersed the militia that had been left to guard the 
fords. At daylight the next morning, Greene learned of the 
defeat of the militia, and apprehensive of a rapid advance on 
the part of Cornwallis, set off at once to rejoin Morgan. He 
rode all day through a heavy rain and roads almost impassable 
on account of the mire. As he had sent off all his aides-de- 
camp in different directions, to collect the scattered militia, he 
rode the most of the way alone. At midday he reached Salis- 
bury. As he alighted at the door of the inn, he was met by 
an army surgeon, who inquired after his health. " Fatigued, 
hungry, alone and penniless," answered Greene, sadly. Mrs. 
Elizabeth Steele, the hostess of the inn, chanced to overhear 
these words ; she said nothing, but when he was seated at the 
table, she entered the room, closed the door, and took from 
under her apron two bags of coin which she had saved for 
emergencies. " Take these," said the noble woman, offering 
them to him ; " you will want them, and I can do without them." 
Greene accepted the money with thanks, and continued his 
journey with a lighter heart. Such was the patriotism of the 
women of the Revolution. 

Rejoining Morgan, Greene urged his men on towards the 
Yadkin as rapidly as the wretched roads would permit. He 
passed that stream on the 3d of February, and his rear guard 
was still engaged in crossing when the British reached the 
river. A skirmish ensued on the banks of the Yadkin, and 
night coming on, the British commander deferred the attempt 
to force a passage until the next day. During the night a 
heavy rain swelled the river so high that it could not be forded. 
Greene profited by this delay to push on to Guilford Court 
House, where he was joined on the 9th by his other division 
under General Huger. 

Greene now resolved to continue his retreat into Virginia, and 
Cornwallis determined to strain every nerve to intercept him 
before he could reach the Dan. The two armies now entered 
upon a race for that river. Greene entrusted the task of cover- 
ing his retreat to General Morgan, but that officer falling ill, the 



190 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

command of the rear guard passed to Colonel Otlio H. Wil- 
liams. Cornwallis supposed that the Dan could not be passed 
at the lower ferries, and that Greene would seek to reach the 
upper fords. He moved rapidly in that direction to cut him 
off. Greene, however, had long contemplated the passage of 
the river at the lower ferries, and his agents had collected a 
large number of boats for that purpose. He therefore moved 
in that direction while Cornwallis was aiming for the upper 
fords. The retreat was conducted with masterly ability. " It 
was a long and severe march for both armies, through a wild and 
rough country, thinly peopled, cut up by streams, partly covered 
by forests, along deep and frozen roads, under drenching rains, 
without tents at night, and with a scanty supply of provisions. 
The British suffered the least, as they were well equipped and 
comfortably clad ; whereas the poor Americans were badly off 
for clothing, and many of them without shoes." Perceiving 
Cornwallis's error, Colonel Williams retreated towards the upper 
fords, and so confirmed that commander's delusion, while 
Greene with the main body pushed on to the lower ferries, 
which he reached and passed in safety in the course of the 14th 
of February. He at once sent back word to Williams, who, 
with his covering party, was far in the rear. That excellent 
officer encamped as usual no the night of the 14th in front of 
the enemy, but a few hours later withdrew his men, leaving his 
camp-fires still burning, and by a forced march all night 
reached the ferries on the morning of the 15th, crossed the 
river and rejoined Greene. An hour or two later, Cornwallis, 
who had discovered his mistake too late, reached the Dan; but 
was compelled to halt. The river could not be forded, and 
all the boats were in Greene's possession. The British com- 
mander was deeply mortified by his failure to intercept the 
American army. He had pursued it for over two hundred 
miles and had made great exertions to come up with it ; but 
Greene had managed to elude him at every step, and had 
safely accomplished one of the most brilliant retreats on record. 
After resting his men a few days on the banks of the Dan, 
Cornwallis fell back to Hillsborough. 

Having received a slight reinforcement, General Greene re- 
crossed the Dan about the last of February, and advanced 



NATHANIEL GREENE. I9I 

into North Carolina to put a stop to Cornwallis's efforts to raise 
the Loyalists of that region. His prompt advance put an end 
to the recruiting of the British army, and caused many Tories, 
on their way to join it, to return home. Cornwallis, being 
short of supplies, abandoned Hillsborough and slowly retreated 
southward. Greene followed him cautiously, too weak to risk 
a battle if it could be avoided, but ready to take advantage of 
the first error on the part of his adversary. His movements 
were conducted with the utmost circumspection, and in order 
to guard againt a surprise, he never remained in the same 
place more than one day, and kept secret, until the last mo- 
ment, the places he selected for his encampments. Cornwallis 
thoroughly appreciated the merits of his adversary. " Greene," 
he said, " is as dangerous as Washington. He is vigilant, 
enterprising, and full of resources. With but little hope of 
gaining any advantage over him, I never feel secure when 
encamped in his neighborhood." 

In the meantime reinforcements from Virginia, Maryland and 
North Carolina brought Greene's army up to about four thousand 
men. In numbers it was now superior to the enemy, but in 
other respects was greatly inferior to them. Greene was aware 
of this inferiority, but he determined, nevertheless, to accept 
the battle which the enemy had so long offered. Sending his 
baggage to a place of safety, he marched to Guilford Court 
House, about eighteen miles distant, and took position there. 
As soon as he learned of this movement Cornwallis, trusting 
in the superior qualities of his veterans, advanced on the 15th 
of March, to attack the American army. A severely contested 
battle ensued ; the American army was defeated, and compelled 
to retreat. Greene retired in good order, and Cornwallis 
was so severely crippled by his victory that he withdrew to 
Wilmington, on the Cape Fear River. By the time he reached 
that place his army had been so much weakened by desertions 
and losses in battle that he had but 1,400 men with him. 

Washington thoroughly approved the course of General 
Greene. "Although the honors of the field do not fall to your 
lot," he wrote to him, " I am convinced that you deserve them. 
* * * The motives which induced you to risk an action with 
Lord Cornwallis are supported upon the best military principle. 



192 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

and the consequence, if you can prevent the dissipation of your 
troops, will no doubt be fortunate." The retreat of Cornwallis 
to Wilmington, as we have seen, justified the course of Greene. 

The activity of General Greene during this memorable cam- 
paign was remarkable. He gave his personal supervision to 
everything. He could never'depend upon the militia, and was 
obliged to incur many fatigues that a better regulated army 
would have saved him. After the battle of Guilford Court 
House, he wrote: "I have never taken off my clothes since I 
left the Pedee. I was taken with a fainting last night, owing, 
I suppose, to excessive fatigue and constant watching." After 
the battle of Eutaw Springs, he wrote to the Committee of 
War, " I have been seven months in the field without taking off 
my clothes." 

Greene had followed Cornwallis some distance on his retreat, 
but finding that the latter was moving towards Wilmington, 
he turned off, and marched towards Camden to crush Lord 
Rawdon. He advanced to Hobkirk's Hill, about two miles 
from Camden, where he was attacked by Lord Rawdon on the 
25th of April. After a sharp engagement Greene was defeated. 
He fell back in good order, having inflicted upon the enemy a 
loss about equal to his own. Lord Rawdon was unable to 
derive any advantage from his victory, as he could not bring 
Greene to another general engagement. At the same time the 
American partisan troops were so active in his rear that the 
situation of his Lordship became dangerous. He therefore set 
fire to Camden and fell back to Monk's Corner. 

In the meantime Lee, Marion, Pickens, and the other patriot 
leaders, had broken up the fortified posts of the British with 
such success that by the month of June, 1781, only three 
positions of importance remained to the British in South Caro- 
lina — Charleston, Nelson's Ferry and Fort Ninety Six, near the 
Saluda. The last named position was of the greatest import- 
ance, and was held by a force of Carolina Tories. Lee and 
Pickens were sent against Augusta, Georgia, and captured it 
after a close investment of seven days. General Greene himself 
marched against Ninety Six and laid siege to it. Being in- 
formed that Lord Rawdon was hurrying to its relief, he at- 
tempted to carry the fort by assault on the i8th of June, but 



NATHANIEL GREENE. I93 

was repulsed with severe loss. Greene then raised the siege 
and retreated across the Saluda. 

Early in July the excessive heat put an end to active oper- 
ations on the part of the two armies. Greene withdrew to the 
high hills of the Santee, and the British went into camp on the 
Congaree. A bitter partisan warfare now sprang up between 
the Patriots and Tories, in which neither age nor sex was 
spared. Lord Rawdon added to the horrors of the war by 
hanging Colonel Hayne, a distinguished citizen of Charles- 
ton, on the pretext that he had broken his parole. The execu- 
tion was so unjust that General Greene felt himself obliged to 
retaliate by executing as deserters all those prisoners who had 
formerly served in his own army. So bitter was the feeling of 
the American troops that they could scarcely be prevented 
from shooting the British officers who fell into their hands. 

Lord Rawdon sailed for England and left the command of 
his army to Colonel Stewart, an officer of ability and experi- 
ence. At the close of the summer of 1781, General Greene, 
whose army had been increased, by the arrival of the com- 
mands of Marion and Pickens, to 2,500 men, resumed the 
offensive. He attacked the British at Eutaw Springs on the 
8th of September, and after a severely fought battle the left 
wing of the British was routed. In the moment of victory the 
American army stopped to plunder the enemy's camp, and the 
British, taking advantage of the delay, rallied and made a stand 
in a large stone house, from which they could not be driven. 
Greene was forced to draw off his troops and leave the field to 
the enemy .^ Both sides claimed the victory, but the advantage 
certainly lay with the Americans. The British lost a third of 
their army, and immediately fell back to the vicinity of Charles- 
ton. Greene followed them as far as Monk's Corner, and then 
returned to the Hills of Santee. The American commander 
had abundant reason to be satisfied with the result of his oper- 

1 " At the battle of Eutaw Springs Greene says, ' that hundreds of my men were 
naked as they were born.' Posterity will scarcely believe that the bare loins of 
many brave men who carried death into the enemy's ranks at the Eutaw, were 
galled by their cartouch boxes, while a folded rag or a tuft of moss protected the 
shoulders from sustaining the same injury from the musket. Men of other times 
will inquire, 'By what magic was the army kept together?' " — Johnson^ s Life of 
General Greene. 
13 



194 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ations in South Carolina. He had rescued the greater part of 
the State from the British, and had confined them to the 
region between the Santee and the Lower Savannah. He had 
repeatedly engaged the enemy with the most inadequate 
means, and under the most unfavorable circumstances; but 
had never failed, even though defeated, to accomplish the object 
for which he fought. He had baffled the English comman- 
ders over again, and, like William of Orange, had managed to 
derive greater advantages from his reverses than his adversaries 
were able to draw from their victories. 

The battle of Eutaw Springs was the last fight of General 
Greene. It was followed by the abandonment by the British 
of the whole of South Carolina save Charleston. A period of 
rest followed, during which a plot was formed by some muti- 
nous soldiers of the army to seize their General and deliver 
him to the British. The plot was detected in time, and the 
ringleader was shot. It was found that not a single native 
born American was connected with it. Greene retained his 
command in the South until the close of the war, when he 
resigned his commission and returned to his home in Rhode 
Island, where he met with an enthusiastic welcome from his 
fellow-citizens. 

The Southern States, which his genius had so well defended, 
were prompt, after the close of the war, to show their gratitude 
in a most substantial manner. South Carolina presented him 
with an . estate valued at over fifty thousand gold dollars ; 
Georgia bestowed upon him an estate near Savannah worth 
over twenty-five thousand gold dollars ; and North Carolina 
gave him twenty-five thousand acres of land in Tennessee. 

General Greene decided to make his home on his estate near 
Savannah, and after spending two years in Rhode Island in 
arranging his affairs, sailed for Georgia, with his family, in Oc- 
tober, 1785. Establishing himself in his new home, he de- 
voted himself with enthusiasm to agricultural pursuits. As 
he was a man of vigorous health, and but forty-five years old, 
he naturally looked forward to many years of peaceful enjoy- 
ment with his family. His hopes were not to be realized, 
however. On the afternoon of the 15th of June, 1786, he was 
prostrated by a sunstroke while walking over his grounds. 



NATHANIEL GREENE. I95 

He lingered until the 19th of the month, when he died. At 
the request of the citizens of Savannah, his body was conveyed 
to that city, and was buried in a cemetery adjoining it with 
public honors. 

The news of the death of General Greene was received by 
his countrymen with unaffected grief Congress, by a unani- 
mous resolution, on the 12th of August, 1786, ordered that a 
monument be erected to his memory at the seat of the Federal 
Government — an order that has never been carried out. " He 
was a great and good man," wrote Washington to Lafayette, 
announcing his death. He was the model of an American 
soldier and patriot, and his name and fame are among the most 
precious possessions of his countrymen. 




JOHN ADAMS. 

JOHN ADAMS was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, on the 
30th of October, 1735. His father was a farmer, in plain 
circumstances ; but as he had received a college education as 
his only legacy from his father, he determined that his son 
should be equally fortunate, and after considerable trouble, pre- 
vailed upon John to prepare at an early age for college. He 
was noted at college as the best scholar of his class, and in the 
summer of 1755, when not quite twenty, took his degree of 
bachelor of arts, and entered upon the duties of life. 

He had his own way to make in the world, and began by 
taking charge of the public school in the town of Worcester. 
It was a position which barely supported him, and he adopted 
it merely as an expedient to obtain the means of supplying the 
most pressing wants of nature until he could make choice of 
and enter upon a profession. His small income required of him 
the utmost carefulness, and he thus learned the habits of thrift 
and frugality, which distinguished him through life. He did 
not acquire the fault of niggardliness which usually accom- 
panies these qualities — the inborn generosity of the man was 
too sound for this. 

It was the wish of young Adams's parents and friends that he 
should become a preacher — then the most honorable calling in 
New England ; but the naturally liberal mind of the young 
man revolted against the close, hard theology of the time. " I 
saw," he said in after years, " such a spirit of dogmatism and 
bigotry in clergy and laity, that, if I should be a priest, I must 
take my side, and pronounce as positively as any of them, or 
never get a parish ; or getting it, must soon leave it. Very 
strong doubts arose in my mind whether I was made for a pulpit 
in such times ; and I began to think of other professions." His 
most intimate friends were fortunately men of broader and more 
liberal views than commonly prevailed in New England at the 

(196) 




JOHN ADAMS. 



JOHN ADAMS. 1 97 

time, and he had the good fortune to read at this critical junc- 
ture of his hfe the works of Lord Bohngbroke — and he read 
them, too, with a nice discrimination very rare in so young a man. 
The result of the matter was that he threw aside the idea of the 
ministry, and entered upon the study of the law, under the 
guidance of his friend Mr. Putnam. He was eminently quali 
fied for this profession, by the peculiar cast of his mind, hi:, 
quick perception and discriminating judgment, and by his clear, 
sonorous voice, and readiness as a speaker. He pursued his 
studies for three years under the direction of Mr. Putnam, sup- 
porting himself during this period by teaching school. Six 
hours of each day were regularly given to the duties of the 
school, and the remainder of his time to the study of the law. 
He was a close, diligent student, and as a consequence became 
one of the most thoroughly informed members of his profession 
in New England. In October, 1758, his legal studies and 
school teaching came to an end, and he was sworn in as an 
attorney in the Superior Court. 

Mr. Adams now removed to his father's house in Braintree, 
where he resided for the next six years. In 1761 his father 
died, and he remained with his mother until his marriage, three 
years later. During the first years of this period his lot was 
that of all young members of his profession. He was un- 
known, a resident of a small New England town, and he had 
to wait for practice. He had plenty of leisure, and he em- 
ployed it in continuing his professional studies and general 
reading upon a more extensive scale than had been possible at 
Worcester. He knew that he was to be the architect of his 
own fortunes, that he had neither wealth, family nor influence 
to sustain him, and he neglected nothing that could fit him for 
an honorable and enduring success in life. He had formed at 
an early day the habit of keeping a diary, in which he noted 
down his acts, his comments on the people with whom he 
associated, his opinions on the topics of the day, and his in- 
most feelings. These journals are invaluable in assisting us 
to a proper understanding of his efforts and character. Slowly 
and by degrees he struggled into practice, and was admitted 
as a barrister in the Superior Court. During his attendance at 
the session of this court in 1761, he heard the splendid argu- 



198 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ment of James Otis against the " Writs of Assistance." It 
made an indelible impression upon his mind, and fifty-seven 
years after the event he wrote the most vivid account of it that 
has come down to us. 

The great grandfather, grandfather and father of John Adams 
had been town officers in their day. The same mark of confi- 
dence was conferred upon him by his fellow townsmen, and 
soon after his settlement in Braintree he was elected surveyor 
of the highways, the duties of which office he discharged with 
vigor and fidelity. 

On the 25th of October, 1764, Mr. Adams married Abigail, 
second daughter of William Smith, the minister of the First 
Congregational Church at Weymouth. " By this marriage Mr, 
Adams became allied with a numerous connection of families, 
among the most respectable for their weight and influence in 
the province, and it was immediately perceptible in the con- 
siderable increase of his professional practice." Better than all 
this, the young man obtained as a wife " a woman whose 
character was singularly fitted to develop every good point of 
his," and to whom, more than to any one else, he owed the 
success of his after life. In the same year Mr. Adams was 
chosen a selectman and assessor and overseer of the poor in 
the town of Braintree. 

Until now Mr. Adams' life had been quiet and uneventful. 
He had watched the growing troubles between the Colonies 
and the Mother Country, and though he had deeply sympa- . 
thized with his native land, he had taken no part in the politi- 
cal questions of the day. The passage of the Stamp Act 
aroused such a determined opposition in the Colonies that he 
was drawn, in spite of himself, into the discussion which it ex- 
cited. He drew up a petition to the selectmen of Braintree, 
and obtained the signatures of a number of the leading towns- 
men, to call a meeting of the people, and at this meeting pre- 
sented a draft of instructions to the representatives of the town 
in the General Court in relation to the stamps. The instructions 
were adopted by the meeting without a dissenting voice, and 
being published were adopted by forty other towns of Massa- 
chusetts as instructions to their respective representatives. But 
though firm and outspoken in his resistance to the injustice 



JOHN ADAMS. 1 99 

of Great Britain, Mr. Adams sincerely deplored the violence 
of the people of Boston towards the stamp officials of that town. 
Mob law never found favor in his eyes. 

The Courts of Massachusetts disregarded the Stamp Act in 
the despatch of their business, but Hutchinson, who was Chief 
Justice of the Superior Court, and Judge of the Probate Court 
of Suffolk county, refused to hold either Court. A meeting of 
the town of Boston was held, and James Otis, Jeremiah Gridley 
and John Adams were appointed to present a memorial to the 
Governor and Council, praying that the Courts should resume 
their sittings. The duty of opening the argument in favor of 
this petition devolved upon Mr. Adams. He delivered his 
argnament on the 20th of December, 1765, and grounded it, he 
says, " on the invalidity of the Stamp Act, it not being in any 
sense our act, having never consented to it." This bold doctrine 
went to the root of the whole matter, and from this time Mr. 
Adams was regarded as one of the leaders of the patriot party. 
The Governor and Council, however, refused to order the 
reopening of the Courts, as they decided that the matter was a 
question of law to be settled by the Courts themselves. Hutch- 
inson was therefore triumphant for the time. 

In the spring of 1768, Mr. Adams removed his residence from 
Braintree to Boston. During the year he was offered, by Gov- 
ernor Bernard, the appointment of Advocate General of the 
Court of Admiralty, then vacant. The Governor expressly de- 
declared that Mr. Adams' acceptance of the office would not 
necessitate any sacrifice of his political sentiments or opinions ; 
but the office was promptly and firmly declined. Mr. Adams 
would hold no position that might even seem to commit him 
to a support of the unjust treatment of his country by England. 
During the two or three years which succeeded the repeal of 
the Stamp Act, he devoted himself with energy to his profes- 
sion, and the result was a steady and marked increase of his 
practice and reputation. 

Mr. Adams shared the resentment of the people of Boston at 
the occupation of their town by the British troops, and in May, 
1769, as chairman of a committee of his fellow citizens, drafted 
a series of instructions to the representatives of Boston, in the 
General Court, to investigate the conduct of the troops since 



200 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

their occupation of the city. He was prompt and outspoken 
in his views, and his opinions were well known in New Eng- 
land. 

On the night of the 5th of March, 1770, occurred the conflict 
between the troops and a number of citizens, known as " the 
Boston Massacre." The affair threw the town into a fever ol 
excitement, and came near precipitating an open conflict be- 
tween the troops and the citizens. To pacify the latter, the 
troops were withdrawn from the city, and the officer and soldiers 
engaged in the " Massacre," were arrested and held for trial. 
They applied to John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr., to defend 
them, and these gentlemen conducted their defense at their 
subsequent trial, though in the face of considerable popular 
opposition. The prisoners were acquitted of the charge of 
murder, but two of the soldiers were convicted of manslaugh- 
ter. The calmness and deliberation with which this trial was 
conducted had a happy effect in England, and exhibited the 
fairness and moderation of the Colonists in the most favorable 
light. 

In June, 1770, Mr. Adams was elected a delegate from Bos- 
ton to the General Court. This election was largely due to the 
desire of the leaders of the patriot movement to draw him into 
political activity in behalf of their cause. Until now Mr. 
Adams had been a sympathizer with the cause, but had not 
engaged in it as a manager, as had his relative, Samuel Adams. 
He was wanted now in a different capacity. " The patriot 
party stood in need of a legal adviser at all times ; but never 
more than now, that they were summoned to contend with the 
shrewdness and skill of Hutchinson, just transferred from the 
highest judicial to the highest civil post of the province. * * * 
Otis, long an energetic, though not uniformly a consistent 
counsellor, had just sunk a victim to his own irregularities and 
the vindictiveness of his enemies. Joseph Hawley, the pillar 
of the party in Western Massachusetts, was not always at 
hand, nor did his temperament, ever prone to melancholy, 
incline him to assume undivided responsibility. Both he and 
Samuel Adams saw in John Adams the person now wanted 
to step into the vacant place. * * It is certain that, from this 
date, whether in or out of public station, John Adams was 



JOHN ADAMS. 201 

looked to as a guide in those measures in which questions in- 
volving professional knowledge w-ere to be discussed with the 
authorities representing the crown." ^ 

Mr. Adams bore an important important part in the strug- 
gles of the General Court with Governor Hutchinson, but at 
the close of the year retired from the House. The year had 
been one of great labor to him, and his health had become so 
seriously threatened that he determined to bid adieu to politics 
and retire to his rural home. His sense of his duty to the 
public, however, prevented him from carrying out the first part 
of his determination, and he soon became involved in the fierce 
dispute which was aroused by the discovery of Governor 
Hutchinson's secret letters to the British Ministry. It was 
owing to his splendid handling of the controversy that the 
efforts of the Governor to vindicate himself met with a most 
humiliating defeat. In May, 1773, the popular party endea- 
vored to elect him to a seat in the Council, but his election 
was negatived by the Governor because of " the very con- 
spicuous part he had taken in the opposition." 

One of the most active partisans of the royal cause in 
Massachusetts was Peter Oliver, Chief Justice of the Superior 
Court. Hutchinson relied upon him more than upon any one 
else in his efforts to destroy the liberties of the Colony. The 
General Court demanded his removal, but the Governor re- 
fused to comply with the request. The Legislature then 
passed a bill adjourning the meeting of the Superior Court for 
three days later than the usual term, but the Governor refused 
to take notice of the measure. The Chief Justice was confident 
that the effort to remove him would fail, when he was suddenly 
brought to a realization of his mistake. John Adams ended 
the controversy b}/ proposing the impeachment of the Chief 
Justice by the House of Representatives before the Council. 
The House, after due consideration, acted upon this propo- 
sition, and the impeachment was ordered by a vote of 92 to 8. 
The action of the House was sustained by the people of the 
Colony, who refused to acknowledge the right of the Chief 
Justice to hold court while under impeachment. Not a jury 

1 Life vf John Adams. By jf. Q. and C. F. Adams. Vol. I. p. 148. 



202 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

could be obtained, and the sentiment of the province was so 
unanimous that even Oliver quailed before it. The Superior 
Court, which he had sought to corrupt, was closed. 

Mr. Adams was one of the principal sufferers by the closing 
of the Courts. His means of support were destroyed by this 
measure, and the closing of the port of Boston and the growing 
disorder of the affairs of the province left it very uncertain 
whether there would be any improvement in his prospects. 
Yet what seemed to be a misfortune was in the end to prove a 
gain to both himself and his country. He was now in his 
thirty-ninth year, and " had hitherto been only a private man, 
honored with few marks of the confidence of his fellow citizens. 
Indeed, he had rather sought to avoid than win them." The 
necessities of the patriot party made it imperative that they 
should secure him as one of their most active leaders. He was 
the first man in the Colony in learning ; he was calm, cool, 
courageous, devoted to the cause and absolutely incorruptible. 

When the Assembly of Massachusetts, just before its dis- 
solution by Governor Gage, elected the delegates from that 
province to the General Congress, Mr. Adams was chosen one 
of them. He accepted the appointment, and was in his place 
in Philadelphia at the opening of the Congress in September, 
1774. His position in that body was difficult from the first. 
He was one of the recognized leaders of the Congress, but the 
circumstances in which he was placed required him to keep 
this character in the background. There was a feeling abroad 
that the New England Colonies had gone too far, and were 
aiming at a separation from the Mother Country. The con- 
servative element of the Southern and Middle Colonies was not 
yet prepared for this decisive step. Redress of grievances was 
all they aimed at at present, and in order to secure union and 
harmony, the New England leaders were compelled to carry 
out the wishes of their associates from these Colonies, and the 
Congress confined its action simply to protesting against the 
injustice of Great Britian, petitioning for a redress of the 
-wrongs complained of, and the formation of an association, 
pledging the Colonies to non-intercourse with Great Britain, 
until the aggressions of the Mother Country should cease. 
Mr. Adams had no faith in the efficacy of these matters. He 



JOHN ADAMS. 203 

was convinced that they would fail, and that the injustice of 
Great Britain would drive the Colonies into war. His own 
province he knew had no retreat, and he was anxious above 
all to secure for her the support of her sister Colonies. He 
was not satisfied with the work of the Congress, but looked to 
the reassembling of that body, in May, 1775. with more hope. 
He was returned as a delegate to the Second Congress, and 
was promptly at his post. His views had by this time been 
largely vindicated by the result. Gage had precipitated the 
struggle in Massachusetts, blood had been shed at Lexington 
and Concord, and the Colonies must either make common 
cause with Massachusetts, or submit unconditionally to the 
King. The war had come, and there was "no retreat, but in 
submission and slavery." Mr. Adams' mind was clear as to 
what would be the character of the war. He had studied the 
question too deeply to believe that it could result in a mere 
accommodation of the quarrel with England. Its natural 
result was independence, and he was convinced that it could 
have no other issue, apart from the subjugation of the country. 
Independence was to his far-seeing mind the natural destiny of 
the Colonies, and from the reassembling of the Congress, he 
devoted himself to the task of preparing that body for the sep- 
aration of the Colonies from Great Britain, and the assertion of 
their independence. There were a few members, whose views 
coincided with his own, but the Congress was as yet under the 
influence of the timid counsels of John Dickinson and his sup- 
porters, who were anxious to try the effect of one more peti- 
tion to the King. Nevertheless, Mr. Adams and his friends 
succeeded in pledging the Congress to the support of Massa- 
chusetts, and in inducing that body to adopt the New England 
forces before Boston as a Continental army, and to appoint a 
Commander-in-Chief for it. This was a great gain, and Mr. 
Adams was enabled to render his country another service of 
the first importance, by nominating Washington as the Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Continental army, and securing his 
election by Congress. He did this because of his conviction 
of Washington's peculiar fitness for the post, and because of 
his earnest desire to unite the Southern Colonies more firmly 
with New England. 



204 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

In the first Congress the two Adamses had been regarded 
as persons of extreme and treasonable opinions. This reputa- 
tion followed them into the second Congress. Shortly after 
the meeting of the latter body, some letters of John Adams 
to his wife and friends in New England were betrayed into the 
hands of the enemy at Newport, and were published. They 
showed that their author was far in advance of the great ma- 
jority of his colleagues, and " displayed him as drawing the 
outlines of an independent State, the great bugbear in the eyes 
of numbers, who still clung to the hope that the last resort 
might be avoided." The result was that Mr. Adams fell into 
temporary disfavor with the Congress. " It is stated by more 
than one witness that Mr. Adams was avoided in the street by 
many, as if it were contamination to speak with such a traitor. 
Even of his friends, several become infected with the general 
panic, and looked coldly upon him. At no time, and he had 
repeated trials of the kind, did he stand more in need of all 
his fortitude and self-control than upon the occasion of this 
sudden and unlocked for influx upon him of the general dis- 
approbation." 

Congress took a recess during the month of August, and 
Mr. Adams returned home. He had been chosen a member 
of the Provincial Congresss, of Massachusetts, and spent the 
recess in the arduous task of getting a proper government to 
work in the province. At the end of the recess he was back 
at his post in Congress. Letters from home for many weeks 
filled him with the keenest anxiety for his family. His child- 
ren were ill, his wife overburdened with the cares of her 
household, and there was everything to induce him to return 
home. He could not leave his post, however. He was a 
marked, man and formed, with Samuel Adams, the Lees of 
Virginia, and a few others, a minority whose duty it was to 
guide the country towards the final separation from England, 
to which it was steadily advancing. Be the consequences to 
himself what they might, he must remain .to advocate openly 
the principles he had so long held in private. His labors were 
energetic, and his services on the various committees to which 
he was assigned were arduous. At length he had the satisfac- 
tion of seeino- his views become more common in Conq-ress. 



JOHN ADAMS. 205 

The Southern Colonies came at last to see that their depend- 
ence upon the justice of the King was in vain ; that they must 
fight, and that their only hope of safety lay in making common 
cause with the Northern Colonies. 

Towards the close of the year, Mr. Adams determined to re- 
turn home to accept the post of Chief Justice of Massachusetts, 
which had been recently conferred upon him. He went back 
to Massachusetts in December, 1775, and gave several months 
to the work of arranging the civil and military affairs of the 
Colony. He was a member of the Provincial Council also, and 
its most active member. Early in 1776 the Council elected 
him a delegate to Congress to serve during the year, and 
February found him once more in Philadelphia. Bancroft 
draws this splendid picture of him upon his return to Congress: 

" His nature was robust and manly ; now he was in the 
happiest mood of mind for asserting the independence of his 
country. He had confidence in the ability of New England to 
drive away their enemy ; in Washington, as a brave and pru- 
dent commander ; in his wife, who cheered him with the forti- 
tude of womanly heroism ; in the cause of his country, which 
seemed so bound up with the welfare of mankind that Provi- 
dence could not suffer its defeat; in himself, for his convictions 
were clear, his will fixed, his mind prepared to let his little 
property and his life go, sooner than the rights of his country. 

" Looking into himself he saw weakness enough, but neither 
meanness, nor dishonesty, nor timidity. His overweening self- 
esteem was his chief blemish ; and if he compared himself with 
his great fellow-workers, there was some point on which he 
was superior to any one of them ; he had more learning than 
Washington, or any other American statesman of his age ; 
better knowledge of freedom as grounded in law than Samuel 
Adams; clearer insight into the constructive elements of gov- 
ernment than Franklin ; more power of debate than Jefferson ; 
more courageous manliness than Dickinson ; more force in 
action than Jay ; so that, by varying and confining his compari- 
sons, he could easily fancy himself the greatest of them all. 
He was capable of thinking himself the centre of any circle to 
which he had been no more than a tangent ; his vanity was in 
such excess that in manhood it sometimes confused his judg- 



206 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ment, and in age bewildered his memoiy ; but the stain did not 
reach beyond the surface ; it impaired the lustre, not the hardy 
integrity of his character. He was humane and frank, gener- 
ous and clement; yet he wanted that spirit of love which 
reconciles to being outdone. He could not look with com- 
placency on those who excelled him, and regarded another's 
bearing away the palm as a wrong to himself; he never sat 
placidly under the shade of a greater reputation than his own, 
and could try to jostle aside the presumptuous possessor of 
recognized superiority ; but his envy, though it laid open how 
deeply his self-love was wounded, had hardly a tinge of malig- 
nity, and never led him to direlictions for the sake of revenge. 
He did his fame injustice when, later in life, he represented 
himself as suffering from persecutions on account of his early 
zeal for independence ; he was no weakling to whine about in- 
jured feelings ; he went to his task bright, and cheery, and 
brave ; he was the hammer, and not the anvil ; and it was for 
others to fear his prowess and to shrink under his blows. His 
courage was unflinching in debate and everywhere else ; he 
never knew what fear is ; and had he gone into the army, as 
once he had longed to do, he would have taken there the vir- 
tues of temperance, decision and intrepidity. To his latest old 
age his spirit was robust, buoyant and joyous ; he saw ten 
times as much pleasure as pain in the world ; and after his arm 
quivered and his eye grew dim, he was ready to begin life anew 
and fight its battles over again. 

" In his youth he fell among skeptics, read BoHngbroke's 
works five times through, and accustomed himself to reason 
freely and think boldly ; he esteemed himself a profound meta- 
physician, but only skimmed the speculations of others ; 
though at first destined to be a minister, he became a rebel to 
Calvinism, and never had any very^ fixed religious creed ; but 
for all that, he was a staunch man of New England, and his 
fond partiality to its people, its institutions, its social conditions 
and its laws, followed him into Congress and its committees, 
and social life, tinctured his judgment and clinched his pre- 
possessions ; but the elements in New England that he loved 
most were those which were eminently friendly to universal 
culture and republican equality. A poor farmer's son, bent on 



JOHN ADAMS. 20/ 

making his way in the world, at twenty years old beginning 
to earn his own bread, pinched and starved as master of a 
stingy country school, he formed early habits of order and fru- 
gality and steadily advanced to fortune ; but though exact in 
his accounts, there was nothing niggardly in his thrift, and his 
modest hospitality was prompt and hearty. He loved homage, 
and it made him blind ; to those who flattered him he gave his 
confidence freely, and often unwisely; and while he watched 
the general movement of affairs with comprehensive sagacity, 
he was never a calm observer of individual men. He was of 
the choleric temperament; though his frame was compact and 
large, yet from physical organization he was singularly sensi- 
tive ; could break out into uncontrollable rage, and with all 
his acquisitions, never learned to rule his own spirit; but his 
anger did not so much drive him to do wrong as to do right 
ungraciously. No man was less fitted to gain his end by arts 
of indirection ; he knew not how to intrigue, was indiscreetly 
talkative, and almost thought aloud ; whenever he sought to 
win an uncertain person to his support, his ways of courtship 
were uncouth, so that he made few friends except by his 
weight of character, ability, public spirit and integrity ; was 
unapt as the leader of a party, and never appeared so well as 
when he acted from inspirations of his own. 

" Hating intolerance in all its forms, an impassioned lover 
of civil liberty, as the glory of man and the best evidence and 
the best result of civilization, he, of all men in Congress, was 
incomparable as a dogmatist ; essentially right-minded ; loving 
to teach with authority ; pressing onward unsparingly with his 
argument; impatient of contradiction; unequalled as a posi- 
tive champion of the right. He was the Martin Luther of 
the American Revolution, borne on to utter his convictions 
fea:rlessly by an impulse which forbade his acting otherwise. 
He was now too much in earnest, and too much elevated by 
the greatness of his work to think of himself; too anxiously 
desiring aid, to disparage those who gave it. In the fervor of 
his activity, his faults disappeared. His intellect and public 
spirit, all the noblest parts of his nature, were called into the 
fullest exercise, and strained to the uttermost of their healthful 
power. Combining more than any other, farness of sight and 



208 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

fixedness of belief with courage and power of utterance, he 
was looked up to as the ablest debater in Congress. Pre- 
serving some of the habits of the lawyer, he was redundant in 
words and cumulative in argument ; but his warmth and sin- 
cerity kept him from the affectations of a pedant or a rheto- 
rician. Forbearance was no longer in season ; the irrepressible 
talent of persevering, peremptory assertion was wanted ; the 
more he was hurried along by his own vehement will the bet- 
ter ; now his country, humanity, the age, the hour, demanded 
that the right should be spoken out; his high excitement had 
not the air of passion, but appeared, as it was, the clear per- 
ception of the sublimity of his task. When, in the life of a 
statesman, were six months of more importance to the race 
than these six months in the career of John Adams ?" ^ 

Mr. Adams and his colleagues from Massachusetts were 
charged, by their province, to take such measures as should 
seem good to them " for the establishment of right and liberty 
to the American Colonies upon a basis permanent and secure, 
against the power and art of the British administration." In 
his judgment, there had been from the first but one way to 
accomplish this — by a total separation from England. " I saw 
from the beginning," he says in a letter to his wife, written 
some time before this, " that the controversy was of such a 
nature that it never would be settled, and every day convinces 
me more and more." He was fully alive to the necessity of se- 
curing the good will of foreign powers, and especially of 
France, but was not at first disposed to favor an alliance with 
her or to ask her for direct aid. He came at length, however, 
to see the necessity of her assistance, and lent his abilities to 
the task of persuading Congress to attempt to secure it. He 
failed, however, for the members were not yet prepared to take 
so decisive a step. When the Committee was formed to c6r- 
respond with foreign powers, he was carefully excluded from 
it, lest he should commit the Congress to an open bid for 
French aid. 

The influence of Mr. Adams could not be confined to Con- 
gress. It spread beyond the walls of Independence Hall, and 

1 History of tke United States. By Geo. Bancroft. Vol. VIII., pp. 308-12. 



JOHN ADAMS. 209 

did much to prepare the people of the whole country for the 
decisive step which he saw, though they did not, was close at 
hand. About this time George Wythe, of Virginia, chanced 
to .spend an evening with him, and was so impressed with his 
vigorous remarks upon the constitution best suited to a free 
state, that he asked him to give him his ideas in writing. Mr. 
Adams complied with the request, and wrote for him his 
" Thoughts on Government." This document was published 
in Virginia, which was then on the point of reconstructing its 
government, and was hailed with delight by Jefferson, Henry, 
the Lees and other Liberals. Its result was to preserve to 
Virginia a republican form of government. 

To Patrick Henry Mr. Adams wrote, defining his idea of the 
true policy of the Colonies. " It has ever appeared to me," 
he said, " that the natural course and order of things was this ; 
for every Colony to institute a government ; for all the Colo- 
nies to confederate, and define the limits of the Continental 
Constitution ; then, to declare the Colonies a sovereign State, 
or a number of confederated States ; and, last of all, to form 
treaties with foreign powers." " Confederation among our- 
selves or alliances with foreign nations," he wrote to his wife, 
" are not necessary to a perfect separation from Britain. That 
is effected by extinguishing all authority under the crown, par- 
liament and nation." In accordance with this view, and to 
make the separation complete, he set himself to work to induce 
Congress to advise the Colonies to institute governments of 
their own, in place of the royal governments which had ceased 
to exist. He was successful in this effort, and on the 15th of 
May, 1776, a resolution for this purpose was adopted by Con- 
gress. It was a great triumph for Mr. Adams, and a gain for 
the country. The action of Congress destroyed the founda- 
tions of British authority in America, and left the people the 
only source of power. 

On this very 15th of May, the Convention of Virginia in- 
structed its delegates in Congress to move a declaration by the 
latter body of the independence of the Colonies. The news 
was communicated to Mr. Adams, by Richard Henry Lee„and 
was received by him with delight. On the 7th of June, Mr. 
Lee, in obedience to the orders of his province, offered a reso- 
14 



2IO AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

lution in Congress, "that the United Colonies are, and ought 
to be, free and independent States, and that their political con- 
nection with Great Britain is, and ought to be dissolved." The 
resolution was seconded by John Adams, and after considera- 
ble debate, was adopted by a bare majority of one. A com- 
mittee was appointed to prepare a declaration, and Mr. Adams 
was placed upon it. When the declaration was reported to 
Congress, and called up for debate, upon Mr. Adams devolved 
the task of defending it, and saving it from the hands of the 
timid members, who sought to rob it of its force and spirit. 
The masterly manner in which he performed this task, so im- 
pressed Jefferson, that he styled him "the colossus of independ- 
ence" on the floor of Congress. Thanks to his efforts, the 
substance of the Declaration, as it came from Jefferson's hand, 
was saved, and on the 4th of July, the great Charter of Ameri- 
can freedom was signed by all the members present. The 
point at which Mr. Adams had aimed from the first, was now 
attained, and the whole country was pledged to a war for in- 
dependence. 

Mr. Adams was a member of the Committee appointed to 
conduct the negotiations of Congress with foreign powers, and 
was appointed also on the Committee which conducted the 
affairs of the war office. The duties of both Committees were 
important ; those of the latter were very heavy. Mr. Adams 
was at the head of the Board of War, and throughout his con- 
nection with it, exerted all his powers to give an efficient 
support to the army. These were not his only services. He 
served as a member of over one hundred different committees, 
and was chairman of at least twenty-five. "As the head of the 
committee already mentioned, which reported the rules con- 
cerning allegiance, he was instructed to draw up, anew, the 
articles of war. He took a leading part in that which was 
directed to pave the way for alliances with foreign States. He 
shared in the discussions upon the proposed form of confedera- 
tion between the States, and bore record against some of the 
defects which ultimately brought it to nothing. He animated the 
organization of a naval force, which from that day to the end 
of his life, was ever a cherished feature of his national system." 
He seemed never to tire of his labors. During the dark hours 



JOHN ADAMS. 211 

of the struggle, when all prospect of success appeared to have 
vanished, he was for a time discouraged, but he did not relax 
his efforts. He was for fighting the struggle out to the bitter 
end, and in his deepest despondency, never entertained a 
thought of yielding. 

At length these labors began to tell upon even this robust 
patriot. He needed rest, and his private affairs demanded his 
presence at home. He therefore resigned his seat in Congress, 
and on the nth of November, 1777, set out for home. A few 
days after his departure he was appointed by Congress to 
replace Silas Deane in the commission sent to procure an alli- 
ance with France. " Dr. Franklin's age alarms us," wrote 
James Lovell, a member of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, 
to Mr. Adams. " We want one man of inflexible integrity on the 
embassy!' Mr. Adams at once accepted the appointment, 
though at a considerable sacrifice. Mrs. Adams was anxious 
to accompany him, but it was decided, after mature consider- 
ation, that she should remain at homo. 

Mr. Adams sailed from Massachusetts Bay, in the frigate 
Boston, on the 13th of February, 1778, taking with him his 
eldest son, John Quincy Adams, a lad of ten years. It was an 
anxious voyage, for the risk of capture was very great, and 
John Adams knew that he could expect no mercy at the hands 
of Great Britain. All went well, however. Near the close of 
the voyage, an English privateer was sighted. Captain Tucker, 
with the consent of Mr. Adams, gave chase to her, but feeling 
his responsibility for the safety of the Commissioner, stipulated 
that Mr. Adams should remain below, out of danger. The 
privateer was overtaken and was captured after a short engage- 
ment. In the midst of the battle, Captain Tucker, to his hor- 
ror, saw Mr. Adams, whom he had supposed safe below, among 
the marines, musket in hand, engaged in the fight. The 
French coast was reached in safety, and Mr. Adams was landed 
at Bordeaux, from which port he hastened to Paris, where he 
arrived on the 8th of April, 1778. 

The defeat of Burgoyne had put an end to the hesitation of 
the French Cabinet, and before Mr. Adams reached Paris a 
treaty of friendship and alliance had been concluded between 
the United States and France. There was nothing for him to 



212 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

do but to avoid taking sides in the quarrels in which he found 
his brother Commissioners engaged. He did this, and resolved 
to return home at once. " I cannot eat pensions and sine- 
cures," he wrote to his wife, " they would stick in my throat." 
After a considerable delay, he was offered a passage home in 
the French frigate Sensible, which was to convey M. de la Lu- 
zerne, the newly appointed French envoy to the American 
Republic. On the 17th of June, 1779, the frigate sailed, carry- 
ing the French Minister and Mr. Adams and his son, John 
Quincy. Boston was reached in safety on the 2d of August, 
and Mr. Adams rejoined his family at Braintree. 

He was at once elected a delegate from Braintree to the 
Convention called for the purpose of framing a new Consti- 
tution for Massachusetts, and rendered valuable service in this 
body. These labors were cut short by his appointment by 
Congress, on the 26th of September, as a member of the Com- 
mission ordered to proceed to Europe to be in readiness to 
negotiate a treaty of peace with Great Britain when that power 
should be willing to treat. He accepted the position and 
sailed from Boston in the Sensible, on her return, taking with 
him his son John Quincy. He reached Paris on the 5th of 
February, 1780. 

While awaiting in France an opportunity to enter upon his 
duties, Mr. Adams began an unofficial correspondence with the 
Count de Vergennes, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, 
and proposed to him that a knowledge of his powers to treat 
should be brought to the attention of the British Government. 
Vergennes, who was perpetually haunted by the fear that the 
United States would make a separate peace with England, and 
so break faith with France, refused Mr. Adams' proposal in the 
coldest possible manner. Mr. Adams submitted to this refusal 
cheerfully, but, in order that he might render some service to 
his country, prepared regularly an account of affairs in America 
for the Mercure de Frajice, conducted under the supervision of 
the French Government. Vergennes informed Mr. Adams 
that he would be glad to receive from him direct such infor- 
mation as he should obtain from America. This led to an 
unofficial communication with the Count, in which Mr. Adams 
regularly laid before him the desired information. Interpret- 



JOHN ADAMS. 213 

ing an act of Congress with regard to the redemption of the 
Continental money as an effort to wrong the French creditors 
of the Repubhc, Vergennes addressed a note to Mr. Adams, 
whom he knew to be in no way accredited to the Court of 
France, complaining of what he termed the injustice of Con- 
gress towards French citizens, and urging him to use his efforts 
to induce Congress to reverse its policy, or at least exempt 
French citizens from its operation. Mr. Adams, feeling bound 
by his obligations to his country to do so, replied to the note 
of the Count, defending the policy of Congress, which he 
claimed did no injustice to Frenchmen. The Count, instead of 
replying to him, addressed a note to Franklin, the accredited 
Minister of the United States, urging him to make the appeal 
to Congress to exempt Frenchmen from the measure referred 
to, and to transmit the correspondence with Mr. Adams to 
Congress, with an expression of his disapproval of Mr. Adams' 
reasoning. Franklin was induced by the Count's misrepre- 
sentations to regard Mr. Adams' part in the transaction as an 
interference with his own privileges, and readily disavowed all 
disposition to uphold Mr. Adams' defence of Congress, and 
wrote to that body complaining of Mr. Adams' interference 
with his province. The truth was that Mr. Adams was too 
zealous an American to suit the Count de Vergennes. Fortu- 
nately he had friends in Congress who were too devoted to 
him to permit him to be sacrificed to the prejudices of the 
French minister. Congress, by a formal vote, approved his 
course. 

Finding himself of no use in Paris, Mr. Adams left that city 
on the 27th of July, 1780, and repaired to Amsterdam. He 
went to Holland for the purpose of forming an opinion for him- 
self of the probability of obtaining a loan in that country for the 
United States. He came to the conclusion that it was possible, 
and so wrote to Congress. Fortunately, six weeks before this. 
Congress had despatched authority to him, in the absence of 
Mr. Laurens, to make the attempt. Before this authority 
arrived, he set to work to prepare the Dutch for his proposal, 
by causing accounts of the war in America, and of the 
resources of the United States, to be published and circulated 
in Holland. He found friends and sympathizers among the 



214 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

cultivated citizens of Amsterdam, and received their cordial 
assistance in these efforts. 

Fortunately for the American Republic, Mr. Laurens was 
captured at sea, together with his papers, among which was a 
copy of a treaty between the United States and Holland, drawn 
up by parties who had no authority on the part of the Dutch 
to negotiate. The British Government, however, made the 
treaty a pretext for an attack upon Holland, and by its dicta- 
torial demands made war inevitable. Mr. Adams, perceiving 
the gain to his country from this state of affairs, quietly sus- 
pended his efforts in Holland until the panic consequent upon 
the rupture with England should subside. On the ist of Janu- 
ary, 1 78 1, Congress appointed him Minister Plenipotentiary to 
the United Provinces, with authority to negotiate a treaty of 
alliance with them whenever such a measure should be practi- 
cable. Immediately upon the receipt of his commission he set 
to work with energy to procure the recognition of his countiy's 
independence by Holland. He succeeded so well that on the 
19th of April, 1782, the United Provinces formally recognized 
the independence of the United States, and received Mr. Adams 
as the accredited Minister from the Government of that country. 
The American Minister followed up this success by negotiating 
a loan of five millions of guilders from the bankers of Amster- 
dam, which he forwarded to America. From this time until 
his return home, in 1788, he continued his relations with the 
Dutch bankers, and was instrumental in effecting several other 
loans, by which the Government of the Union was enabled to 
tide over this most critical period of its history. 

In the meantime negotiations for peace had been begun at 
Paris, and Mr. Adams's presence was needed there. He re- 
turned to France as soon as he had finished his work in Hol- 
land, and reached Paris on the 26th of October, 1782. He 
came back thoroughly distrustful of the Count de Vergennes, 
and to his great satisfaction found that his colleague, Mr. Jay, 
had been driven by the Count's dubious policy into the con- 
viction that American interests were safest in American hands. 
Dr. Franklin, though more disposed than either of the others 
to trust in the good faith of the French Court, gave his support 
to his colleagues, and it was decided by the Commissioners to 



JOHN ADAMS. 215 

conduct the negotiations with Great Britain directly, and with- 
out consulting the French Court. The truth was that France 
had entered upon the struggle chiefly from her desire to cripple 
England, and not from any very deep sympathy with America. 
She was tired of the war and anxious for peace, and Vergennes 
was willing, if the independence of the States could be secured, 
to sacrifice their interests in other respects in order to obtain 
peace. Mr. Adams had long been convinced of this, and he 
was doubly vigilant. 

The negotiations with Great Britain were begun and carried 
on by the American Commissioners without consulting the 
French Government. Mr. Adams's energy and determination 
saved to the United States the Northeastern boundary, which 
Great Britain was anxious to push back to the Penobscot, and 
he demanded for his country a share in the fisheries as a right. 
England was willing to concede this as a p^dvilege, but Mr. 
Adams insisted upon it as a right, and carried his point. The 
other articles of the treaty were arranged satisfactorily, and on 
the 30th of November, 1782, the preliminary treaty of peace 
between the United States and Great Britain was signed. The 
matter was concluded without the knowledge of the French 
Court, but the treaty was made contingent upon the conclusion 
of a general peace for which England, France, and Spain were 
now in full treaty. The French Prime Minister professed to 
regard this action as a breach of the treaty of alliance between 
France and America, though he had purposely refrained from 
communicating the progress of his own negotiations to the 
American Commissioners. The American Congress was dis- 
posed to sustain the action of the Commissioners. The matter 
was happily brought to an end by the preliminary treaty be- 
tween Great Britain, France, and Spain, signed on the 21st of 
January, 1783. In September, 1783, the definite treaty of peace 
was signed by all the parties to the war. 

The long struggle was now over, and Mr. Adams was anxious 
to return home. Congress desired him to remain in Europe, 
however, and assist in negotiating commercial treaties between 
the United States and the different nations of Europe. He 
consented to do this, but was immediately taken down with a 
severe illness. As soon as he was able to travel, he set out 



2l6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

with his son for England. He spent a couple of months in 
visiting the various places of interest in London and the sur- 
rounding country, and had the rare satisfaction of listening to 
the speech of King George, in which that monarch announced 
to Parliament his recognition of the independence of the United 
States. Before his health was entirely restored, he made a 
winter voyage to Holland, which caused him much suffering. 
In the summer of 1784, he was joined by Mrs. Adams and 
their only daughter. He took a house near Paris, and happy 
in the society of his family, devoted himself to his duties as a 
member of the Commission for negotiating treaties of com- 
merce, to which Mr. Jefferson had been recently added in the 
place of Mr. Jay. Now that his country was free, Mr. Adams 
was relieved of the crushing anxiety which had formerly pre- 
vented him from enjoying the brilliant and cultivated society 
into which he was thrown. " Paris was just then in that stage 
of transition from the old to the new, which is apt to quicken 
whatever there may be of sprightly in society, without having 
yet materially impaired its stability. Literature and philosophy 
had become the rage, even in fashionable circles. And the 
flippant ridicule of all things, sacred and profane, of which 
Voltaire had set a fascinating example, had supplied in zest 
what was subtracted from the dignified proprieties of ancient 
France. Mr. Adams saw something of the literary men of the 
day — of Marmontel, and Raynal, and DeMably — and he became 
quite intimate with the Abb^s Chalut and Arnoux, and Count 
Sarsfield, men who lived for society, and who were fully able 
to open to him a view of its springs, ordinarily little obvious to 
foreigners. Deriving great enjoyment, as he unquestionably 
did, from these opportunities, his quick sagacity was not, how- 
ever, less active in determining for himself how far the nation 
he saw before him would be fitted for any other form of gov- 
ernment than the one it had. From the opinion then formed 
he never changed." 

On the 14th of Februaiy, 1785, Congress appointed Mr. 
Adams Minister to the Court of St. James, and in May he re- 
moved with his family to England. The position was not only 
one of honor, but also of heavy responsibility. He was the 
first Minister of his country to its former sovereign, who had 



JOHN ADAMS. 217 

never forgiven or become reconciled to the loss of the Colo- 
nies, and he must shape his conduct so as not to offend Great 
Britain nor humiliate his own countiy. No better man could 
have been chosen for this delicate task. 

Mr. Adams was formally presented to the King. The inter- 
view was embarrassing to both parties. The King knew that 
the new Minister had been one of the most determined workers 
for American independence, and his feelings towards him were 
naturally not of the most cordial character. He was courteous 
therefore to the Minister, but restrained. Mr. Adams bore 
himself with dignity and independence, and made it evident 
that he was fully equal to the situation in which he was placed. 
The position of the American Minister was unpleasant and 
very delicate. The King, though civil to him, treated him 
with frigid politeness only, and the Court and society gener- 
ally took their cue from the monarch, and Mr. Adams found 
himself neglected. England committed one of her character- 
istic mistakes in her treatment of the new Republic and its 
Minister. A generous policy would have won her the cordial 
friendship of a people proud of their English descent, and 
have gained for her important commercial advantages. She 
chose, however, to treat the United States with cold distrust, 
to take every advantage of the stipulations of the treaty, to 
evade her own compliance with them to the last moment, and 
to keep on the alert to take advantage of the distresses into 
which the new nation was being plunged. 

Mr. Adams found his duties limited to constant and fruitless 
solicitations to Great Britain to comply with the conditions of 
the Treaty of Peace. He quickly perceived that he could 
accomplish nothing for his country that could compensate 
him for the painfulness of his position, and he resigned his 
post and sailed for home on the 20th of April, 1788. He 
arrived in Massachusetts after the formation of the Constitution 
of the United States, and while it was still under discussion by 
the States. He gave his cordial support to the Constitution. 
" His bitter experience of the want of a government to sustain 
the national honor in Europe, and his life-long attachment to 
the tripartite or English theory, combined, on his return, to 
place him warmly on the side of its friends." In the elections 



2l8 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of 1789, he was unanimously chosen Vice-President of the 
United States. 

The position of Mr. Adams was of too negative a character 
to permit him, as Vice-President, to exercise a controlHng in- 
fluence upon public affairs. " My country," he wrote, " has, in 
its wisdom, contrived for me the most insignificant office that 
ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination con- 
ceived." He was naturally impatient of the restraint imposed 
upon him, and his mental activity found relief in literary labors. 
The French Revolution was the all-absorbing topic of the day, 
and was exercising a powerful influence upon the course of 
affairs in America. Mr. Adams thoroughly distrusted it, and 
was anxious that his countrymen should see it in the light in 
which it appeared to him. For upwards of a year he published 
a series of articles in " Fenno's Gazette of the United States," 
entitled " Discourses upon Davila," which were devoted to an 
analysis of Davila's history of the Civil War of France in the 
i6th Century. It was Mr. Adams's aim " to point out to his 
countrymen the dangers to be apprehended from powerful 
factions in ill balanced forms of government ; but his aim was 
mistaken, and he was charged with advocating monarchy, and 
laboring to prepare the way for an hereditary presidency." 
This misconception of his object subjected him to a great deal 
of abuse, and caused him considerable pain. In 1792, Mr. 
Adams was chosen Vice-President for a second term. He gave 
his support to the general policy of Washington's administra- 
tion, and though he did not regard Jay's Treaty as a fair settle- 
ment of the disputes with England, he sustained it because he 
was convinced that it was the best peaceful adjustment that 
could be had. In May, 1794, he had the happiness of seeing 
his eldest son, John Quincy Adams, nominated by the Presi- 
dent and confirmed by the Senate to be Minister from the 
United States to Holland. It was a peculiar gratification to the 
father that his son should be sent to earn his laurels in the same 
field in which he himself had won his "greatest triumph." 

President Washington having declined to serve a third term, 
Mr. Adams was the candidate of the Federalist party in the 
elections of 1796. His opponent was Mr. Jefferson. The con- 
test was bitter, and resulted in the election of Mr. Adams. He 
was inaugurated at Philadelphia on the 4th of March, 1797. 



JOHN ADAMS. 2I9 

Mr. Adams made no change in the Cabinet of his prede- 
cessor, and in retaining the Secretaries appointed by Washing- 
ton committed an error which was a source of constant trouble 
to him throughout his administration. The Secretaries were 
not in sympathy with his pohcy, and were men chosen by 
Washington, on the ground, as he himself expressed it, " that 
he had Hobson's choice." As they owed their advancement to 
no preference of Mr. Adams, they felt under slight obligations 
to defer to his authority or to labor to carry out his policy. 
Three of the four had been taken from the section of the 
Federal party with which Mr. Adams had the least sympathy. 
They regarded Alexander Hamilton as their chief, and gave 
their assistance to his efforts to control the policy of the 
administration, and sustained him in his resentment of Mr. 
Adams's refusal to submit to his control. 

The relations of the United States with France had for some 
time been of an unfriendly nature. Jay's treaty had given 
great offense to the French Government, and the insolent con- 
duct of M. Addt, the French Minister to the United States, had 
led to a suspension of diplomatic intercourse between the two 
Republics. The French Directory gave unmistakable evidence 
of its disregard of the rights of America by causing the seizure 
of all American vessels in the ports of France laden with 
British manufactured goods. At the same time the American 
Minister to France, Mr. Charles C. Pinckney, was treated with 
such studied indignity that he demanded his passports and 
withdrew to Holland. Privateers went to sea from French 
ports, seized American vessels and treated their crews as 
prisoners. France also exerted her influence with Spain and 
Holland to induce those powers to pursue a similar course 
towards the United States. The cause of her anger was the 
alleged partiality shown by the American Government for 
England in Jay's Treaty. In spite of these acts there was a 
considerable party in the United States which favored a close 
alliance with France, and could not or would not see the 
deliberate purpose of that country to treat the United States as 
a dependent republic. 

In May, 1797, President Adams laid before the two Houses 
of Congress, convened in extra session, a statement of the re- 



220 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

lations of the country with France. The announcement of the 
insults received by the American Minister at the hands of the 
Directory, and the increased aggressions upon American com- 
merce, aroused a feehng of deep indignation throughout the 
country, and drew upon the partisans of France in America a 
considerable amount of odium. 

Wishing to exhaust all peaceful means of settlement, the 
President directed John Marshall, a leading Federalist, and 
Elbridge Gerry, one of the Republican leaders, to repair to 
Paris, and unite with Mr. Pinckney in an effort to arrange a 
treaty with France which should amicably and honorably adjust 
the disputes between the two countries. Marshal and Gerry, 
joined Pinckney in France in October, 1798, and made known 
their mission to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, the 
famous Talleyrand. The Minister refused to. receive the Ameri- 
can envoys in an official capacity, but employed secret agents 
to communicate with them. It soon transpired that the object 
of these secret interviews was to extort money from the Com- 
missioners. They were informed that the payment by them of 
a certain sum of money to the members of the Directory for 
their personal use, and the pledge by them of a loan from the 
United States to France, would remove all obstacles to negoti- 
ations. The Commissioners indignantly refused to entertain 
this insulting proposal, whereupon Marshal and Pinckney were 
ordered to quit France at once. Mr. Gerry was invited to re- 
main and negotiate a treaty. He consented to do so, but was 
unable to accomplish anything. The correspondence between 
the Commissioners and Talleyrand's agents was published in 
the United States, and aroused such a storm of indignation that 
the French party disappeared. 

A large emigration of Frenchmen had set in towards the 
United States since the outbreak of the Revolution. These 
persons sustained their own country in the quarrel with the 
United States, and were constantly intriguing to make the 
Government depart from its policy of neutrality. It was be- 
lieved that some were acting as spies for the Directory, and it 
was known that many had abused the hospitality extended 
to them by seeking to carry out hostile expeditions against 
Florida and Louisiana, then territories of Spain. They were 



JOHN ADAMS. 221 

amongst the most active in their abuse of the President and his 
policy. In the spring of 1798, Congress attempted to check 
these evils by passing the measures known as the "Alien and 
Sedition Acts." The Alien Act empowered the President to 
send out of the country " any foreigner whom he might believe 
to be dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States," 
This Act was never executed, but it caused a general alarm 
among the class at which it was aimed, and a number of them 
left the United States soon after its passage. By the Sedition 
Act, it was made a crime, punishable with severe penalties, for 
any one to " write, utter, or publish," any " false, scandalous, or 
malicious writing, against either House of the Congress of 
the United States or the President of the United States, with 
intent to defame, or bring them, or either of them, into con- 
tempt and disrepute." The Alien Act was executed in a num- 
ber of instances, but gave great offense to the country, as it was 
regarded as an effort on the part of the Government to strike 
down freedom of speech and of the press. Both measures were 
roundly denounced as subversive of the principles of the Con- 
stitution. They were among the greatest blunders of the 
administration, and the chief cause of Mr. Adams's rejection for 
a second term. 

The connection of the President with these laws, is thus 
stated by his grandson : "That he had no hand in suggesting 
them is very certain. That he declined to insert in his 
speeches recommendations, submitted by his officers, to re- 
strict the rights of aliens, and of naturalization, is likewise 
certain. Yet when they had been once passed upon by the 
two Houses of Congress, he had no such constitutional doubts 
as would justify his declining to affix his official signature to 
them, nor any scruples about putting them in execution, in an 
emergency. On the other hand, he had no confidence in their 
value as effective measures, and very little inclination to at- 
tempt experiments. It was this well understood state of his 
mind, that caused great dissatisfaction among those Federal- 
ists who had favored their adoption. * * * * There was in 
this respect a radical difference of opinion between these per- 
sons and Mr. Adams, which shows itself incidentally in other 
acts of his administration. * * * From all these circum- 



222 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

stances, joined to the fact of an almost total absence of allusion 
to them in his private correspondence, it is fair to infer that 
Mr. Adams's participation in the Alien and Sedition Laws was 
confined to his official act of signature. So far as this goes, 
he is responsible for them, but no farther."* 

In the summer of 1798, Mr. Marshall returned from Europe, 
and his report confirmed the statements that had been made of 
the hostile intentions of the French Government. The Presi- 
dent submitted to Congress a statement of the disputes between 
the two countries, and Congress, recognizing the danger of 
war, began to prepare for it. It was resolved to create a navy ; 
the three frigates just completed were fitted for sea, and the 
President was instructed to have built, or to purchase or hire, 
twelve twenty-gun ships. An army was ordered to be raised, 
and the prominent points on the coast were placed in a state 
of defense. Washington was made Commander-in-chief of the 
army, and Alexander Hamilton its senior major-general. In 
the winter of 1798-99, Congress ordered six seventy-four gun 
ships, and six sloops of war to be built for the navy. 

The President was determined to maintain the national 
honor with firmness, and at the same time to settle the matter 
peaceably if it could be done. The wing of the Federalist 
party, led by Hamilton, was anxious to go to war with France, 
and form an alliance with Great Britain. Mr. Adams had to 
prevent this party from plunging into war, and at the same 
time prevent the party friendly to France from weakening the 
measures of the Government to protect the rights of the 
country. His task was a difficult one, and subjected him to a 
merciless attack from Hamilton and his friends, in which his 
own Cabinet joined. 

The determination evinced by the Americans opened the 
eyes of Talleyrand, who had not believed they would fight. 
A new war would merely add to the embarrassments of France, 
and he now signified to Mr. Van Murray, the American Min- 
ister to Holland, the desire of his government to renew diplo- 
matic intercourse with the United States. Mr. Adams was 
promptly informed of this, and resolved to embrace the oppor- 
tunity of averting the war. He sent Oliver Ellsworth, Chief 

1 Life of John Adams. By J. Q. and C. F. Adams. Vol. 2., p. 301. 



JOHN ADAMS. 223 

Justice of the United States, William R. Davie and William 
Van Murray, Minister to Holland, to treat with the French 
Republic for the settlement of the differences between the two 
countries. The Commissioners were ordered by the President 
not to enter France unless they were assured that they would 
be received in a " manner befitting the Commissioners of an 
mdependent nation." The Hamilton wing of his party, and 
the members of his Cabinet, made great exertions to prevent 
the sending of this embassy; but Mr. Adams adhered with 
firmness to his convictions, and by refusing to yield to the 
schemes of the war party, saved the country from much suffer- 
ing. 

Upon reaching Paris, the Commissioners found that the Di- 
rectory had been overthrown, and that a successful revolution 
had placed Napoleon Bonaparte at the head of affairs as First 
Consul. Bonaparte received the Commissioners with courtesy 
and cordiality, and negotiations were entered upon and carried 
forward with such success that on the 30th of November, 
1800, a treaty of peace and friendship was signed between the 
United States and France. 

The treaty came none too soon, for the two countries had 
already come to blows. More than three hundred merchant 
vessels were licensed to carry arms for their defense. On the 
9th of February, 1799, the American frigate Constellation 
captured the French frigate L'Insurgente, of equal force, after 
a severe engagement. Somewhat later the Constellation en- 
gaged the French frigate La Vengeance, of superior force, and 
silenced her fire after an engagement of five hours. The French 
vessel succeeded in making her escape. 

Before the news of the treaty arrived, the death of Washing- 
ton plunged the country into mourning. During the summer 
of 1 800, the seat of Government was removed to the new Fed- 
eral city of Washington. 

In the Presidential campaign of 1800, Mr. Adams was the 
candidate of the Federalist party for reelection. The Alien 
and Sedition laws, for which the President was generally held 
responsible, had sealed the doom of the Federalist party, 
which was also divided upon the French quarrel, and the op- 
position was strong enough to prevent a choice by the people. 



224 AMERICAN BIOGILAPHY. 

The election was thrown into the House of Representatives, 
and resulted in the choice of Thomas Jefferson as President, 
and Aaron Burr as Vice President. 

One of the last official acts of President Adams, was to ap- 
point John Marshall, of Virginia, Chief Justice of the United 
States, in the place of Oliver Ellsworth, who resigned his office. 

Mr. Adams retired from office and from public life in March, 
1 80 1. The Presidency had been a long trial to him, and his 
firmness in adhering to his convictions of right, though vindi- 
cated by the subsequent course of events, had destroyed his 
popularity, and broken up the Federalist party. He had done 
his duty faithfully, but his very fidelity had made him for the 
time, as his grandson declares, "disgraced in the popular esti- 
mation." His inflexible courage, however, though it had 
drawn upon him the denunciation of his party, "had saved the 
neutral policy, and had removed the obstacles which had 
threatened the prosperity of the nation at the moment that he 
took the helm." Never, in his whole career, had he given a 
more splendid exhibition of the great qualities of his nature. 

Mr. Adams survived his retirement from the Presidency for 
twenty-five years, and this period was spent in the peaceful 
seclusion of his home. He felt keenly the attacks that had 
been made upon him, and passed a portion of his time in the 
preparation of a reply to them. He devoted himself to the 
cultivation of the estate he had won by his labors in earlier life, 
and which constituted his only means of support. As the time 
passed on, he came to look upon the strife through which he 
had passed with calmer and kindlier feelings. After the retire- 
ment of Mr. Jefferson from the Presidency, the cordial relations 
which had once existed between Mr. Adams and himself, and 
which had been interrupted by the party struggles of their 
official life, were resumed through the mediation of an intimate 
friend. Time, the great trier of all men's actions, brought to 
Mr. Adams some reward for his sufferings. As the passion of 
the times died away, men came to do justice to his motives 
and acts, and his old popularity returned, and he became the 
constant recipient of gratifying attentions from his country- 
men. His life was peaceful, and his seclusion was unbroken 
except once, when he became a delegate to the Convention 



JOHN ADAMS. 225 

which met to form a new Constitution for Massachusetts, after 
the erection of Maine into a State, m 1820. 

On the 28th of October, 181 8, Mr. Adams sustained his 
greatest affliction in the death of his wife, who had been the 
faithful partner and strong support of his Hfe for over half a 
century. He was eighty-thfee years old, and knew that he 
could not long survive her A gentle sadness settled over 
him, and his manner lost the cheerfulness that had hitherto 
marked it. He was comforted and in part rewarded for his 
sorrows in his country's cause by the election of his son, John 
Quincy Adams, as President of the United States in 1825, by 
the House of Representatives. 

Mr. Adams survived this event a little more than a year. 
He had reached the age of ninety, and was infirm in body, and 
unable to read, or to write. His mental vigor did not fail him 
and he " retained so much interest in present objects as fully to 
employ the services of members of his immediate family, both 
in reading to him and writing after his dictation." He would 
listen with eagerness to anything that was read to him, for he 
dreaded to fall into the mental torpidness of old age. He took 
his daily walk until unable to bear the fatigue of exercise, and 
then substituted a ride for the walk. In this way he glided 
tranquilly to his end. 

In the spring of 1826 it was evident that he was rapidly 
approaching that end. He was growing steadily weaker. The 
fourth of July of that year would close the half century of 
American independence, and there was manifested all over the 
country the greatest anxiety that Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson 
might live to take part in the rejoicings of the occasion. Mr. 
Adams, it was well known, would not be able to attend a dis- 
tant celebration, but his fellow townsmen hoped to have him 
with them at their festivities in Quincy. On the 30th of June 
a gentleman called upon him to propose a toast to be presented 
as coming from him. " I will give you," said the venerable 
patriot, " Independence forever f He was asked if he would not 
add anything to it. " Not a word," he answered. 

Mr. Adams grew weaker rapidly. He suffered no pain ex- 
cept from the difficulty of respiration, but this increased so 
steadily that he was obliged to take to his bed. On the morn- 
>5 



226 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ing of the 4th of July, his attendant physician informed his 
family that he could not live beyond sunset. The celebrations 
at Quincy went on, and late in the afternoon the banquet be- 
gan. The toast presented by Mr. Adams was received with 
ringing cheers, which were plainly heard by those watching 
by the bed of the dying man, and while they were still rending 
the air the spirit of John Adams passed away from earth. 

The watchers around his bed heard him murmuring faintly, 
a short while before his death, and bending over him, caught 
these words : " Thomas Jefferson still survives !" It was not 
as he supposed, however. A few hours before, at his home in 
Virginia, Mr. Adams's fellow-laborer in the great cause of 
independence had ended his work, and had preceded him in 
the journey to the spirit land. 




HENRY KNOX. 

HENRY KNOX was of Scottish descent, and was born at 
Boston, on the 25th of July, 1750. He received a fair edu- 
cation and began hfe as a bookseller. He manifested a great 
fondness for military matters, and read all the works relating to 
them that he had in his shop, or could borrow. His reading 
was not confined to military literature entirely, but was exten- 
sive upon other subjects. In 1774, he became a member of 
one of the volunteer companies formed in Massachusetts in 
anticipation of war with England, and was elected an officer. 
He was noted for his activity in behalf of his company, and 
his vigor in enforcing its discipline. He gave more than usual 
attention now to military engineering and artillery, and gained 
the reputation of being one of the most thoroughly informed 
men in Boston upon these subjects. This fact, and his known 
zeal in behalf of the Colonial cause, drew upon him the at- 
tention of Governor Gage, who, in order to prevent the Ameri- 
cans from enjoying the benefit of his talents, ordered him, after 
the battle of Lexington, to remain in Boston. 

Previous to this Knox had married a lady belonging to a 
prominent family which warmly supported the measures of the 
British Ministry, and tempting promises of honor and distinc- 
tion were made to him on condition that he would adhere to 
the cause of the King. The patriotism of Henry Knox was 
too pure to be tempted by such offers. He was already pros- 
pering in a marked degree in his business, and was happily 
married to an attractive young wife. His heart was with his 
country, however, and he counted no sacrifice too great to 
make for her. In June, 1775, he found an opportunity of 
escaping from Boston, and promptly embraced it. Turning his 
back on his home, he left the city, and repaired to the patriot 
camp at Cambridge. He was received with delight, for his 
patriotism and his military knowledge were well known. The 

(227) 



228 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. • 

Provincial Congress, then in session at Watertown, at once sent 
for him, and charged him with the construction of such works 
as should be necessary to protect the army from a sudden at- 
tack from Boston. Knox attended to these duties with energy 
and skill, but declined to accept any definite commission. The 
army was too disorganized and insubordinate to render service 
in it attractive to one of his habits. He served, therefore, as a 
v'olunteer, and in the capacity of aide-de-camp to General Arte- 
mas Ward took part in the battle of Bunker Hill. 

When Washington arrived at Cambridge to take command 
of the army, Knox was delighted with him. Washington, on 
his part, recognized the skill with which Knox had planned 
the defenses of the American camp, and the ability with which 
he had on several occasions handled the few cannon on the 
American lines. He was anxious to make the best use of this 
promising volunteer, and recommended him to Congress for 
the command of the regiment of artillery in place of the veteran 
Gridley, who was too old for active employment. 

In the meantime the cold season was approaching, when the 
waters around Boston would be frozen and military operations 
might be conducted upon the ice. Washington keenly felt his 
lack of artillery, and was fearful that Howe would learn his 
weakness in this respect and attack him. Besides this, he was 
well aware that the enemy could not be driven from Boston 
except with artiller}^ He was sorely perplexed to know where 
to obtain the cannon he needed. Fortunately, Knox had been 
quietly investigating the matter also, and he now came forward 
and offered to proceed to Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and 
bring all the artillery that could be spared from those posts to 
Cambridge. Washington gratefully accepted his offer, and 
instructed him to inform himself carefully as to the state of the 
artillery in camp, ascertain what was wanting, and then pro- 
ceed to New York, procure and forward all he could obtain 
there ; and thence repair to the headquarters of General Schuy- 
ler, to whom Washington wrote, requesting him to aid Knox 
in procuring whatever supplies were needed from the forts on 
Lake Champlain. Knox set off promptly, and a few days after 
his departure the commission of Colonel of the regiment of 
artillery, which Washington had requested of Congress for 



HENRY KNOX. 229 

him, arrived at headquarters, and was forwarded to him by 
the Commander-in-Chief. 

Knox received the cordial cooperation of Schuyler, and 
worked with energy to provide the means for transporting the 
cannon and ammunition he obtained on Lake Champlain to 
Boston. It was easy enough to procure the cannon ; the diffi- 
culty was to get them to the camp. By almost superhuman 
efforts he succeeded in transporting them to the head of Lake 
George, and on the 17th of December, 1775, wrote to Wash- 
ington these cheering w^ords, which were truly welcome to the 
harassed Commander-in-Chief: "Three days ago it was 
very uncertain whether we could get them over until next 
spring ; but now, please God, they shall go. I have made 
forty-two exceedingly strong sleds, and have provided eighty 
yoke of oxen to drag them as far as Springfield, where I shall 
get fresh cattle to take them into camp." Late in February, 
1776, Knox arrived in the camp at Cambridge with his long 
train of sledges drawn by oxen, and laden with more than 
fifty cannon, mortars and howitzers, and a large supply of flints 
and lead. "The zeal and perseverance which he had displayed 
in his wintry expedition, across frozen lakes and snowy w^astes, 
and the intelligence with which he had fulfilled his instruc- 
tions, won him the entire confidence of Washington. His 
conduct in this enterprise was but an earnest of that energy 
and ability which he displayed throughout the war." The ar- 
rival of the cannon brought by Knox enabled Washington to 
push the siege of Boston with vigor, and bring it to a success- 
ful close. 

After his return from Lake Champlain, Colonel Knox was 
placed in command of the entire artillery corps of the army, 
and retained 'it throughout the war. He gave to this arm of 
the service the efficiency it obtained, and kept it throughout 
the struggle a model of good discipline and skillful execution. 
He superintended the transportation of the artillery over the 
half frozen Delaware, on the night before the battle of Trenton, 
and gave his personal direction to it in that memorable en- 
gagement. On the morning after the battle of Trenton, Knox 
was promoted' to the rank of brigadier-general at the recom- 
mendation of Washington. After the victory at Princeton, 



230 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Knox strongly advised the Commander-in-chief to move to 
Morristown ; his advice was acted upon, and the American 
army occupied the strong position in which it passed the 
winter. 

Knox commanded the artillery at the battle of Germantown, 
but his guns were too light to batter down the strong walls of 
Chew's house, which the enemy had converted into a fortress. 
At Monmouth, he was more successful. The failure of Gen- 
eral Lee to execute his orders, and his sudden retreat before 
the enemy, threatened the whole army with destruction. 
Washington hastily formed his men on a new line, and to the 
artillery, which was served under the personal direction of 
General Knox, was confided the task of checking the advance 
of the British. The American batteries nobly executed their 
part in the battle, and were rewarded by the following compli- 
ment in the general orders of the Commander-in-chief: "He 
can with pleasure inform General Knox and the officers of the 
artillery, that the enemy have done them the justice to ac- 
knowledge that no artillery could be better served than ours." 

General Knox enjoyed the warm friendship and entire confi- 
dence of Washington throughout the war. He regarded the 
Commander-in-chief with enthusiasm, and was never so happy 
as when by his side. He accompanied Washington on his 
visit to Hartford in September, 1 780, to concert measures with 
the French officers for an attack upon New York. He was one 
of the first whom Washington informed of the treason of Ar- 
nold, which was discovered on his return. 

In November. 1 780, the Marquis de Chastelleux, an officer of 
rank and distinction in the French contingent, visited the 
American camp. He has left an interesting account of his 
visit. In the camp of the artillery, he says, he found every- 
thing in perfect ordei and conducted in European style. 
" Knox, with his genial aspect and cordial manners, seems to 
have won De Chastellux's heart. ' He is thirty-five years of 
age,' writes he, * very stout, but very active ; a man of talent 
and intelligence, amiable, gay, sincere and loyal. It is impos- 
sible to know him without esteeming him, and to see him 
without loving him.' " 

At the sie^e of Yorktown the artillen' Wc.s directed bv Gen- 



HENRY KNOX. 23 I 

eral Knox, and how well he performed his task is shown by 
the steady and rapid reduction of the British works by the 
fire of his guns. When the assault on the British redoubts 
was begun on the night of the 14th of October, Washington 
took his stand with Generals Knox and Lincoln and their staffs 
in the grand battery to watch the result. The position was 
very much exposed, and Knox was in great uneasiness lest a 
chance shot should strike the Commander-in-chief In a few 
minutes a musket ball struck the cannon in the embrasure 
through which Washington was watching the fight, and rolled 
at his feet. Knox seized him by the arm to draw him back. 
" My dear General," he exclaimed, " we can't spare you yet." 
" It is a spent ball," replied Washington, calmly ; " no harm is 
done." 

As the time for the dissolution of the army drew near, the 
officers who had stood by each other through the eight years 
of the struggle were moved with a profound regret at their 
approaching separation. " Prompted by such feelings. General 
Knox, ever noted for generous impulses, suggested, as a mode 
of perpetuating the friendships thus formed, and keeping alive 
the brotherhood of the camp, the formation of a society com- 
posed of the officers of the army." The suggestion met with 
the universal concurrence of the officers, and the cordial ap- 
proval of Washington, and out of it grew the Society of the 
Cincinnati, which was organized on the 13th of May, 1783, at 
the headquarters of Baron Steuben. 

Knox commanded the detachment of American troops which 
occupied .the city of New York upon its evacuation by the 
British. At the parting of Washington from his officers, he 
was the first to respond to the invitation of the Commander- 
in-chief to bid him adieu. 

In October, 1783, upon the resignation of General Benjamin 
Lincoln, Knox was appointed to succeed him as Secretary of 
War, and held that position until the close of the old govern- 
ment of the Confederation. Upon the organization of the Ex- 
ecutive departments of the new government, under the Consti- 
tution, he was appointed Secretary of War by President Wash- 
ington. As the Chief of Artillery of the Continental army 
he had made a brilliant reputation, and his administration of 



232 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the War Department was able and satisfactory. His talents 
fitted him to shine in the field, however, more brilliantly than 
in the Cabinet. " His mind," says Irving, " was ardent and 
active ; his imagination vivid, as was his language. He had 
abandoned the military garb, but still maintained his soldier- 
like air. He was large in person, above the middle stature, 
with a full face, radiant and benignant, bespeaking his open, 
buoyant and generous nature. He had a sonorous voice, and 
sometimes talked rather grandly, flourishing his cane to give 
effect to his periods. He was cordially appreciated by Wash- 
ington, who had experienced his prompt and efficient talent 
in time of war, had considered him one of the ablest officers 
of the Revolution, and now looked to him as an energetic man 
of business, capable of giving practical advice in time of peace, 
and cherished for him that strong feeling of ancient compan- 
ionship in toil and danger, which bound the veterans of the 
Revolution firmly to each other." In the quarrel between the 
Secretaries of State and the Treasury, Knox sided with his old 
friend Hamilton, and was consequently no favorite with Jeffer- 
son, whose strong feeling led him to do injustice to the abili- 
ties and character of the Secretary of War. 

In December, 1794, General Knox resigned his seat in the 
Cabinet, and retired to private life. "After having served my 
country nearly twenty years," he wrote to Washington, " the 
greatest portion of which under your immediate auspices, it is 
with extreme reluctance that I find myself constrained to with- 
draw from so honorable a station. But the natural and power- 
ful claims of a numerous family will no longer permit me to 
neglect their essential interests. In whatever situation I shall 
be, I shall recollect your confidence and kindness with all the 
fervor and purity of affection of which a grateful heart is sus- 
ceptible." 

" I cannot suft'er you," wrote Washington in reply, " to close 
your public service, without uniting with the satisfaction which 
must arise in your own mind from a conscious rectitude, my 
most perfect persuasion that you have deserved well of your 
country. My personal knowledge of your exertions, whilst 
it authorizes me to hold this language, justifies the sincere 
friendship which I have ever borne for you, and which will 
accompany vou in every situation of life." 



HENRY KNOX. 233 

Soon after resigning his office, General Knox removed, with 
his family, to Thomaston, on St. George's River, in the district 
of Maine, about two hundred miles from Boston. He was the 
owner of large tracts of land in that region which had come 
to him from General Waldo, the maternal grandfather of his 
wife. He was appointed a member of the Council of Massa- 
chusetts, and filled this position for several years. He was very 
much beloved by his fellow citizens for his sympathy with the 
poor, his ready aid to those in distress, and his genial and 
courteous bearing to all persons could not fail to receive their 
reward. He was a sincere and unassuming Christian, and his 
virtues were in keeping with his profession. He lived to see 
his country fairly on the way to prosperity and power. His 
death was occasioned by the accidental swallowing of the 
bone of a chicken. He died at Thomaston on the 25th of 
October, 1 806, at the age of fifty-six years. 




PATRICK HENRY. 

SOMETIME previous to the year 1730, John Henry, a native 
of Aberdeen, in Scotland, emigrated to the Colony of Vir- 
ginia. He was a man of liberal education and fair abilities, 
and is said to have been a friend of Governor Dinwiddie. The 
Governor is said to have introduced him to Colonel Syme, of 
Hanover, in whose family he became domesticated. After the 
death of Colonel Syme, Mr. Henry married the widow of that 
gentleman, and continued to reside on the estate. He was a 
man of irreproachable integrity and exemplary piety. " It is 
considered as a fair proof of the merit of Mr. John Henry, 
that, in those days, when offices were bestowed with peculiar 
caution, he was the Colonel of his regiment, the principal sur- 
veyor of his county, and for many years the presiding magis- 
trate of the county court." His brother, Patrick, a clergyman 
of the established Church, followed him to Virginia, and be- 
came rector of St. Paul's parish in Hanover. The wife of 
Colonel John Henry was a native of Hanover County, and of 
the family of Winstons, a family noted for its intellectual gifts 
and its " easy elocution." 

Patrick Henry, the second son of this worthy couple, was 
born on the 29th of May, 1736, at the family seat called Stud- 
ley, in Hanover county, Virginia. " His parents," says Mr. 
Wirt, " though not rich, were in easy circumstances ; and, in 
point of personal character, were among the most respectable 
inhabitants of the Colony." 

As soon as he was old enough, Patrick was sent to a school 
in the neighborhood, where he learned to read and write, and 
mastered a little of arithmetic. At the age of ten he was 
taken home by his father, who had opened a grammar school 
in his own house. Here he was taught a little Latin and a 
little Greek, and made some progress in mathematics. Study 
of all kinds was distasteful to him, and he passed the most of 
his time in idleness. He avoided the school whenever he 

( 234 ) 




PATRICK HENRY. 



PATRICK HENRY. 235 

could; and as his father rarely compelled his attendance, he 
seldom made his appearance in the school-room. He was pas- 
sionately devoted to hunting and fishing, and would spend 
days, and even weeks, tramping over the fields gun in hand, or 
sitting beside his fishing rod. It mattered little to him whether 
he was successfijl in his sport or not; the principal charms 
which these expeditions had for him, were the opportunities 
they afforded him for solitude and communion with nature. 
He was cheerful and bright in his disposition, but never cared 
to mingle in the noisy gayety of children of his own age, " but 
sat quiet and demure, taking no part in the conversation, giv- 
ing no responsive smile to the circulating jest, but lost, to all 
appearance, in silence and abstraction. This abstraction, how- 
ever, was only apparent ; for on the dispersion of a company, 
when interrogated by his parents as to what had been passing, 
he was able not only to detail the conversation, but to sketch, 
with strict fidelity, the character of every speaker. * * This 
propensity seems to have been born with him, and to have 
exerted itself, instinctively the mciment that a new subject 
was presented to his view. Its action was incessant, and it be- 
came, at length, the only intellectual exercise in which he 
seemed to take delight. To this cause may be traced that con- 
summate knowledge of the human heart which he finally at- 
tained, and which enabled him, when he came upon the public 
stage, to touch the springs of passion with a master hand, and 
to control the resolutions and decisions of his hearers with a 
power almost more than mortal."^ This was the only mental 
trait that distinguished him from his fellows in childhood. He 
grew up idle, utterly averse to study or work, slovenly in his 
dress and careless in his habits, and awkward in appearance 
and manner. He was overflowing^ with good nature, and was 
popular with his companions. 

At the age of fifteen Patrick was set to work to earn his liv- 
ing, as his father's family was large and his means limited. 
He was given a situation in a country store, and at the end of 
the year his father, thinking him sufficiently qualified, pur- 
chased a small stock of goods, and set his two sons, William 
and Patrick, up in business on their own account. It was a 

"^Wirfs Life of Patrick Henry, p. 24. 



236 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

helpless nrm, for William was even more idle than his younger 
brother, and left the management of the store entirely to Pat- 
rick, who found the drudgery of such a life insupportable. His 
natural kindness of heart was another obstacle to success 
in business. He could never refuse credit to any one who 
asked it, and though he foresaw that such a course would re- 
sult in the failure of his enterprise, he was never able to dis- 
continue it. His store was his prison, and he sought relief 
from its confinement by learning to play on the violin and 
flute, in which accomplishments he became quite proficient. 

He also found relief from the irksomeness of his life in his 
favorite study of the human character. The character of every 
customer was subjected to the most minute scrutiny, " not," 
says Mr. Wirt, "with reference either to the integrity or sol- 
vency of the individual, * * but in relation to the structure 
of his mind, the general cast of his mind, the motives and 
principles which influenced his actions, and what may be called 
the philosophy of character. * * Whenever a company of his 
customers met in the slbre, * * and were themselves suffi- 
ciently gay and animated to talk and act as nature prompted, 
without concealment, without reserve, he would take no part 
in their discussions, but listen with a silence as deep and at- 
tentive as if under the influence of some potent charm. If, on 
the contrary, they were dull and silent, he would, without be- 
traying his drift, task himself to set them in motion, and excite 
them to remark, collision, and exclamation. He was peculiarly 
delighted in comparing their characters, and ascertaining how 
they would severally act in given situations. With this view 
he would state an hypothetic case, and call for their opinions, 
one by one, as to the conduct which would be .proper in it. 
If they differed, he would demand their reasons, and enjoy 
highly the debates in which he would thus involve them. By 
multiplying and varying those imaginary cases at pleasure, he 
ascertained the general course of human opinion, and formed 
for himself, as it were, a graduated scale of the motives and 
conduct which are natural to man. Sometimes he would en- 
tertain them with stories gathered from his reading, or, as was 
more frequently the case, drawn from his own fancy, composed 
of heterogeneous circumstances, calculated to excite, by turns, 



PATRICK HENRY. 237 

pity, terror, resentment, indignation, contempt, pausing, in the 
turns of his narrative, to observe the effect; to watch the 
different modes in which the passions expressed themselves, 
and learn the language of emotion from those children of 
nature." 

The business of the store ran its course of ruin within the 
year. Patrick spent the next two or three years in winding up 
the affairs of the concern. Undaunted by his hard experience, 
Patrick, at the age of eighteen, married Miss Shelton, the 
daughter of a plain farmer, of Hanover. By the joint assist- 
ance of their parents, the young couple were settled on a small 
farm which Patrick, too poor to hire laborers, was obliged to 
till with his own hands. His lack of agricultural skill and his 
idle habits, drove him, at the end of two years, to abandon his 
farm. He sold all his possessions, and with the proceeds 
opened a new store. His second mercantile venture, however, 
proved no more successful than the first, and he found that his 
old habits were too strong to permit him to devote himself to 
steady and persistent labor. He let the store take care of 
itself, and would often close it and betake himself off to the 
fields with his gun, or to the river with his rod and line. He 
gave much of his time to his books, and his reading was now 
of a more solid and useful character. He studied geography, 
anc^ soon became master of it. Works of history possessed 
the deepest interest for him. Livy was his favorite, and he 
read it through at least once a year for many years. His won- 
derful memory and strong judgment enabled him to master 
and digest what he read with rapidity and ease. In a few 
years the mercantile venture proved a failure, and Mr. Henry 
found himself a ruined man, with a young family dependent 
upon him. It was a most pitiable situation in which he was 
placed, and one which sorely tried the natural manly cheerful- 
ness of his nature. He did not despair, however, but retained 
his hope in the future. 

At this juncture Mr. Henry made the acquaintance of 
Thomas Jefferson, then a youth of seventeen, on his way to 
the College of William and Mary. " We became well ac- 
quainted," says Mr. Jefferson, " although I was much his junior, 
and he a married man. His manners had something of coarse- 



238 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ness in them ; his passion was music, dancing and pleasantry. 
He excelled in the last, and it attached every one to him." 

At last, in sheer despair, Mr. Henry seized hold of the pro- 
fession to which he was best suited, and resolved to study law. 
None of his friends believed him capable of success in so 
laborious a calling, and he himself did not expect to do more 
than earn a bare subsistence in it. His studies embraced a 
period of six weeks, during which time he read Coke upon 
Littleton, and the Virginia laws. With this scanty preparation, 
he obtained a license in the winter of 1760, and at the age of 
twenty-four entered upon the practice of his profession. Dur- 
ing the first two or three years of his practice he and his family 
resided with his father-in-law, Mr. Shelton, who kept a tavern 
at Hanover Court House. While there Mr. Henry assisted his 
father-in-law in the task of carrying on the tavern. He was too 
indolent to continue his legal studies with anything like vigor, 
and was so ignorant of the most common business of his pro- 
fession that he could not draw up the simplest law paper with- 
out assistance. He obtained barely enough business during 
these years to supply the most ordinary wants of his family, 
and their poverty and distress were very great. The affection- 
ate nature of Mr. Henry was subjected to constant suffering in 
consequence of this; but he retained his serenity and cheerful- 
ness, and struggled on in the firm conviction that he would ^et 
win comfort and ease for his dear ones. It was not until he 
had been at the bar three years that an opportunity to display 
his natural powers occurred. 

The lawful currency of the Colony of Virginia was tobacco. 
The price of this commodity varied so much from year to year 
that payments in tobacco were often very burdensome. In the 
winter of 1758 the Legislature passed a law authorizing the 
people of the province to pay their taxes and other public dues 
in money at the rate of two pence per pound for the tobacco 
due. As the clergymen of the Established Church had each a 
fixed salary due in so many pounds of tobacco, which at this 
time commanded a high price, this law inflicted such heavy 
losses upon them that they refused to submit to it, and urged 
the Bishop of London to persuade the King to refuse the law 
his signature. The Bishop complied with the request, and the 



PATRICK HENRY. 239 

royal assent being refused, the law became inoperative. It had 
already been carried into effect in Virginia, however, and the 
clergy found themselves unable to collect their salaries in to- 
bacco. They resolved to bring the matter to a judicial test, 
and this was made in a suit instituted by the Rev. James Maury, 
of Hanover, against the Collector of that county and his sure- 
ties. Mr. Maury based his claim upon the Act of Assembly 
assigning salaries to the clergy. The defendants pleaded 
specially the Act of 1758, which commuted the salary into 
money at two pence per pound of tobacco. The plaintiff de- 
murred to this plea, on the grounds that the act having failed 
to receive the royal assent was inoperative, and that it had been 
declared by the King, in Council, null and void. The case was 
argued on the demurrer at the November term, 1763, of the 
County Court, by Mr. Lyons for the plaintiff, and Mr. John 
Lewis for the defendants. It was popularly known as " The 
Parsons' Cause," and excited the most profound interest 
throughout the Colony. The Court, faithful to its sense of 
justice, sustained the demurrer, and there was nothing left but 
to argue the question of damages. Mr. Lewis, feeling that the 
case was lost, retired from it, and the defendants, in despair, 
applied to Patrick Henry, who agreed to argue the question at 
the December, 1763, term. 

With many misgivings, Mr. Henry repaired to the court 
house on the 7th day of December. He found it crowded, for 
people had come from all the surrounding counties to hear the 
arguments in a case in which all were deeply interested. The 
clergy, believing their triumph assured, were present in large 
force. 

The case was called soon after the opening of the court. Mr. 
Henry had never before spoken in public, and the scene before 
him was enough to appall even his stout heart. On the bench 
sat more than twenty clergymen, the most learned men in the 
Colony, and the most capable, as well as the severest critics 
before whom it was possible for him to have made his debut. 
The court house was crowded with an overwhelming multi- 
tude, and surrounded with an immense and anxious throng, 
who, not finding room to enter, were endeavoring to listen with- 
out in the deepest attention. But- there was something still 



240 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

more awfully disconcerting than all this; for in the chair of 
the presiding magistrate, sat no other person than his own 
father. Mr. Lyons opened the cause veiy briefly; in the way 
of argument he did nothing more than explain to the jury, that 
the decision upon the demurrer had put the act of 1758 entirely 
out of the way, and left the law of 1748 as the only standard of 
their damages; he then concluded with a highly wrought 
eulogium on the benevolence of the clergy. 

When it came Patrick Henry's turn to speak, he rose 
awkwardly, amid a profound silence. No one had ever heard 
him speak, and all were anxious to see how he would acquit 
himself He clutched nervously at his papers, and faltered out 
his opening sentences with a degree of confusion which threat- 
ened to put a speedy end to his effort. The people watched 
their champion in sorrow and indignation; the clergy ex- 
changed glances of triumph, and eyed the speaker with con- 
tempt; while his father hung his head in shame. But suddenly 
a change came over the young advocate. Warming with his 
subject, he threw off his embarrassment and awkwardness, and 
stood erect and confident. His look of timidity gave place to 
one of command; his countenance glowed with the fire of 
genius, and startled the gazers by the aspect of majesty which 
it assumed for the first time. His tones grew clear and bold, 
his action graceful and commanding, and the astounded jury 
and audience were given a display of eloquence without a 
parallel in the history of the province. Henry knew that the 
case was against him, but he pleaded the natural right of Vir- 
ginia to make her own laws, independently of the King and 
Parliament. He proved the justness of the law; he drew a 
striking picture of the character of a good King, who should 
be the father of his people, but who becomes their tyrant and 
oppressor, and forfeits his claim to obedience when he annuls 
just and good laws. At this bold declaration, the opposing 
counsel cried out, " He has spoken treason," but was silenced 
by the excited throng. 

"They say," says Mr. Wirt, "that the people, whose counte- 
nances had fallen as he arose, had heard but a very few sen- 
tences before they began to look up ; then to look at each 
other in surprise, as if doubting the evidence of their own 



PATRICK HENRY. 24 1 

senses ; then, attracted by some gesture, struck by some ma- 
jestic attitude, fascinated by the spell of his eye, the charm of 
his emphasis, and the varied and commanding expression of 
his countenance, they could look away no more. In less than 
twenty minutes they might be seen in every part of the house, 
on every bench, in every window, stooping forward from their 
stands, in deathlike silence ; their features fixed in amazement 
and awe, all their senses listening and riveted upon the speaker, 
as if to catch the last strain of some heavenly visitant. The 
mockery of the clergy was soon turned into alarm, their tri- 
umph into confusion and despair; and at one burst of his rapid 
and overwhelming invective, they fled from the bench in pre- 
cipitation and terror. As for the father, such was his surprise, 
such his amazement, such his rapture, that, forgetting where he 
was, and the character which he was filling, tears of ecstasy 
streamed down his cheeks without the power or inclination to 
repress them." 

The jury brought in a verdict of one penny damages for the 
" parsons," and the court overruled the motion of their coun- 
sel for a new trial. 

This remarkable effort was the commencement of a new era 
in the life of Patrick Henry. It placed him in the front rank 
of his profession in the part of the Colony in which he prac- 
ticed. His eloquence was the common topic of conversation. 
The people were proud of their champion; but the aristocratic 
portion of the Colony from the first regarded him with cold- 
ness, recognizing, by an intuitive perception, their natural 
enemy. Mr. Henry's evenness of disposition was not disturbed 
by his triumph. He entertained no extravagant hopes of the 
future, and was wise enough to see that his chances of perma- 
nent success rested upon the people's favor. He never, in all 
his career, forgot that he was sprung from the great body of 
the people, and he adhered to them with fidelity. When his 
fame had filled two continents, he was the same simple, unaf- 
fected man of the people as on the day when he rose to defend 
them in the Parsons' Cause. He dressed plainly, lived simply, 
and mingled with the humblest, on a footing of the most un- 
affected equality. He was the natural enemy of aristocracy in 
every form. Government he regarded as rightfully proceeding 
i6 



242 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

from the people, and existing for their benefit, and he scouted 
the idea that any particular class had the right to rule — very 
radical opinions for a lawj^er in the aristocratic Colony of Vir- 
ginia. He made no secret of his views, and openly declared 
that he " bowed to the majesty of the people." " Nor did the 
people, on their part, ever desert him. He was the man to 
whom they looked in every crisis of difficulty, and the favorite 
on whom they were ever ready to lavish all the honors in their 
gift." 

Mr. Henry's business increased rapidly, and now he began 
to pay the penalty of his habits of idleness and neglect of his 
early opportunities. His aversion to steady labor was uncon- 
querable, and he never acquired a thorough knowledge of the 
law. He was therefore compelled to make special studies of 
the law for each particular case, and even then was at the 
mercy, on points of law, of his more learned competitors. 
" The reasoning of the law," says Mr. Wirt, " was too artificial 
and too much cramped for him. While unavoidably engaged in 
it, he felt as if manacled. His mind was perpetually struggling 
to break away. His genius delighted in liberty and space, in 
which it might roam at large, and feast on every variety of in- 
tellectual enjoyment. Hence he was never profound in the 
learning of the law. On a question merely legal, his inferiors, 
in point of talent, frequently embarrassed and foiled him ; 
and it required all the resources of his extraordinary mind to 
support the distinction he had now gained." 

In the year 1764 he removed to the county of Louisa, hop- 
ing to better his condition. He still kept up his fondness for 
hunting, and would often appear in court in his rough hunting 
costume, and take up his cases. 

In the fall of 1764 he repaired to Williamsburg as counsel for 
Mr. N. W. Danbridge, who contested the seat of Mr. James Lit- 
tlepage in the General Assembly. His coarse, threadbare dress, 
his awkward habits and abstracted manner, caused him to be 
treated with almost open discourtesy by the Committee charged 
with the investigation of the case. The chairman, Colonel 
Bland, alone treated him with civility. A general smile passed 
around the Committee as he rose and faltered out his opening, 
but it was soon changed to a look of amazement as he launched 



PATRICK HENRY, 243 

into the most brilliant argument on the great question of the 
right of suffrage that had ever bt^n heard within those walls. 
After this he had no occasion to complain of a lack of respect 
from the Assembly or people of Williamsburg. 

The year 1764 witnessed the opening of the great struggle 
between England and America by the origination, on the part 
of the former, of the measures which resulted in the Stamp Act, 
and in Januaiy, 1765, the Stamp Act itself was passed by Par- 
liament. The measures of the Ministry produced the greatest 
alarm in America. The majority of the leading men were un- 
willing to submit to what they regarded as injustice, and at the 
same time feared to counsel open resistance. Only a few far- 
seeing ones contemplated forcible resistance to the tyranny of 
the Mother Country. Among these was Patrick Henry. His 
convictions were clear and firm from the very first, and during 
the year 1764 he repeatedly advised an uncompromising resist- 
ance to the Acts of the British Ministry. His opinions were 
eagerly repeated among the people of Virginia, and had such a 
marked effect upon them that Mr. Jefferson afterwards declared 
that " Mr. Henry certainly gave the first impulse to the ball of 
the Revolution." It was considered essential that Mr. Henry 
should be placed in a position which would secure to him the 
influence to which he was entitled in the councils of the coun- 
try, and the delegate from Louisa resigned his seat to make a 
vacancy for him, and he was elected to the General Assembly 
in May, 1765. 

Mr. Henry now found himself in an Assembly composed of 
the most brilliant men in the Colony, such as John Robinson, 
Peyton Randolph, Edmund Pendleton, George Wythe, and 
Richard Henry Lee. It was an Assembly with which he had 
little in common ; for apart from the quarrel with the Mother 
Country, it was bent on maintaining the aristocratic constitu- 
tion of the province, and perpetuating class rule — a system he 
hoped to destroy. The Assembly was noted for its elaborate 
and formal courtesy, and its members were elegant and polished 
men of society. Great was the outward contrast between them 
and the plain, unassuming, awkward, unpolished member from 
Louisa. He was personally unknown to the majority of the 
House, and few expected him to exercise much influence upon 
its deliberations. 



244 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Virginia had by this time entered upon the retribution which 
was to punish her early neglect of her true interests, and her 
landed gentry were nearly all, more or less, embarrassed with 
debt. A scheme was set on foot in the Assembly to establish 
a loan office, from which the public money to a certain amount 
might be loaned to individuals on good landed security. By 
means of this scheme the aristocracy of the Colony hoped to 
mend their broken fortunes, and the whole of that element in 
the House regarded it with favor. Mr. Henry at a glance saw 
that it would not remedy the evil, but would merely impose a 
new burden upon the people, and he opposed it in a bold, elo- 
quent address which caused its defeat. The members of the 
upper counties voted in a body against it; and the only votes 
in its favor were those of the aristocratic members from the 
lower counties. This triumph made Mr. Henry the leader of 
the popular party in the Assembly, and won for him the in- 
creased confidence of the people. It also gained him the bitter 
and abiding hatred of the aristocracy, who were "indignant at 
the presumption of an obscure and unpolished rustic, who 
without asking the support or countenance of any patron 
among themselves, stood upon his own ground, and bearded 
them even in their den." They were forced to acknowledge his 
wonderful gifts, but sought to avenge themselves by ridiculing 
his plainness of person and awkwardness of manner. 

The news of the passage of the Stamp Act reached Virginia 
in May, 1765. The Royalist leaders of the Assembly were 
amazed at the folly of the Ministry, but agreed that nothing 
but submission was left them. Not so with Mr. Henry. He 
saw in the occasion the proper time for joining the issue 
squarely between the King and the Colonies, and rising in his 
place offered his famous Five Resolutions, in which it was de- 
clared that the people of Virgmia were bound to pay only such 
taxes as were levied by their own Assembly, and that all at- 
tempts to impose taxes upon them without their consent had " a 
manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American free- 
dom." The resolutions provoked an exciting debate, in which 
Mr. Henry, in a magnificent oration, exposed the tyranny of the 
British Government, and stirred the hearts of the burgesses to 
resist. Closing his address with one of his loftiest flights, he 



PATRICK HENRY. 245 

exclaimed in electric tones, " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles 
the First his Cromwell, and George the Third " The As- 
sembly was in an uproar. " Treason ! treason !" cried the 
Speaker, and the cry of "treason!" was re-echoed not only 
from the royalists, but from others who were alarmed by the 
bold words. Henry never quailed, but raising himself to his 
full height and fixing his eye upon the Speaker, added in atone 
peculiar to himself — " may profit by their example. If that be 
treason, make the most of it." Mr. Henry held his ground in 
the debate, and carried the resolutions by a majority of a single 
vote. When the result of the vote was announced, Peyton 
Randolph, the King's Attorney-General, left the house, ex- 
claiming bitterly as he went, " By God, I would have given five 
hundred guineas for a single vote !" 

The next day, during Mr. Henry's absence, the timid Assem- 
bly rescinded the fifth resolution and modified the others. For 
daring to pass the resolves, however, it was dissolved by the 
Governor, but too late to prevent its action from producing its 
effect. Copies of Henry's resolutions as originally passed were 
forwarded to Philadelphia, where they were printed and circu- 
lated throughout the Colonies. They aroused the drooping 
spirits of the people, and gave birth to a general determination 
that the stamps should not be used in America. 

By his bold action, Mr. Henry took the leadership of the 
Assembly out of the hands which had hitherto controlled it. 
His fame spread beyond the limits of his province, and he be- 
came known to the whole country as one of the most deter- 
mined leaders of the Colonial cause. 

Mr. Henry continued a member of the Assembly until the 
outbreak of the Revolution, and it was owing to him, more 
than to any other person, that that body maintained its firm, 
determined, but respectful tone of resistance to the King. In 
1767 or 1768, Mr. Henry removed from Louisa to Hanover 
county, and was returned from that county to the Assembly 
immediately afterwards. When the Assembly was dissolved 
by Lord Botetourt in May, 1769, on account of its adoption of 
the Four Resolutions, Mr. Henry was prominent in urging the 
meeting of delegates in the Coffee Room of the Raleigh Tavern, 
and in bringing about the non-intercourse resolutions which 



246 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

that meeting adopted. The same body appointed him one of 
the Committee of Correspondence with the other Colonies. 

There was no probability that the Committee would fail in 
its duty with Patrick Henry on its list. He clearly perceived 
the issue of the struggle, and was only anxious to prepare the 
country for it. He had faith in her ability to make a success- 
ful resistance, and was confident of the result. Mr. Wirt 
relates the following instance in proof of his remarkable pre- 
science : " I am informed by Colonel John Overton that before 
one drop of blood was shed in our contest with Great Britain, 
he was at Colonel Samuel Overton's, in company with Mr. 
Henry, Colonel Morris, John Hawkins and Colonel Samuel 
Overton, when the last mentioned gentleman asked Mr. 
Henry, ' whether he supposed Great Britain would drive her 
Colonies to extremities ? And if she should, what he thought 
would be the issue of the war ?' When Mr. Henry, after look- 
ing round to see who were present, expressed himself confi- 
dentially to the company in the following manner : ' She will 
drive us to extremities — no accommodation will take place — 
hostilities will soo7i commence, and a desperate and bloody 
touch it will be.* ' But,' said Col. Samuel Overton, ' do you 
think, Mr. Henry, that an infant nation, as we are, without dis- 
cipline, arms, ammunition, ships of war, or money to procure 
them — do you think it possible, thus circumstanced, to oppose 
successfully the fleets and armies of Great Britain ?' ' I will be 
candid with you,' replied Mr, Henry. ' I doubt whether we 
shall be able, alone, to cope with so' powerful a nation. But,' 
continued he, rising from his chair with great animation, 
* where is France ? Where is Spain ? Where is Holland ? — the 
natural enemies of Great Britain — where will they be all this 
while ? Do you suppose they will stand by, idle and indiffer- 
ent spectators to the contest ? Will Louis XVI. be asleep all 
this time ? Believe me, no ! When Louis XVI. shall be satis- 
fied by our serious opposition, and our Declaration of Indcpen- 
dejice, that all prospect of reconciliation is gone, then, and not 
till then, will he furnish us with arms, ammunition and cloth- 
ing ; and not with these only, but he will send his fleets and 
armies to fight our battles for us ; he will form with us a treaty 
offensive and defensive against our unnatural mother. Spain 



PATRICK HENRY. 24/ 

and Holland will join the confederation. Our independence 
will be established, and we shall take our stand among the na- 
tions of the earth.' Here he ceased ; and Col. John Overton 
says he shall never forget the voice and prophetic manner in 
which these predictions were uttered, and which have been 
since so literally verified. Col. Overton says, at the word inde- 
pendence, the company appeared to be startled, for they had 
never heard anything of the kind before even suggested."^ 

As we have related elsewhere in this work the events which 
preceded the Revolution, it is not necessary to repeat them 
here. The quarrel with England deepened rapidly, and at 
length a general Congress of the Colonies was summoned to 
meet in Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1774. Mr. 
Henry had maintained his place as the leader of the cause in 
Virginia, and in addition to his labors as a member of the Com- 
mittee to correspond with the other Colonies, had exerted 
himself to prepare the people of Virginia for the coming strug- 
gle. He was chosen by the Virginia Convention one of the 
delegates to the Congress. He made the journey on horse- 
back, in company with Washington and Edmund Pendleton, 
and was in his seat at the opening of the Congress. 

The session was opened with prayer, at the close of which 
a deep silence prevailed throughout the hall. The members 
looked around upon each other with anxiety, each one being 
unwilling to begin the proceedings which were to be so full of 
moment to the countiy. At last Patrick Henry rose slowly, 
and began to speak hesitatingly, "as if borne down with the 
weight of his subject." As he proceeded, he rose grandly to 
the duties of the occasion, and in his eloquent manner recited 
the wrongs suffered by the Colonies at the hands of Great 
Britain. He declared that all government in America was dis- 
solved, and urged upon the Congress the duty of providing 
for the emergency by uniting the Colonies in a common sys- 
tem of resistance. " British oppression," he exclaimed, " has 
effaced the boundaries of the several Colonies ; the distinctions 
between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New 
Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an Amer- 
can." The deputies were astonished at his eloquence, as well 

^ Wirfs Life of Patrick Henry. Pp. 1 1 i-l 1 2. 



248 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

as at the magnitude of the interests with which they were en- 
trusted. " He sat down amidst murmurs of astonishment and 
applause ; and as he had been before proclaimed the greatest 
orator of Virginia, he was now, on every hand, admitted to be 
the first orator of America." 

Mr. Henry was appointed a member of the Committee on 
the Address to the King adopted by the Congress. He gave 
his hearty support to the measures of the Congress, although 
they did not go far enough to suit him, and was rejoiced to 
meet with such kindred spirits as the Adamses, of Massachu- 
setts. Congress adjourned in October, and Mr. Henry returned 
to Virginia. In reply to the questions of his neighbors as to 
who was the greatest man in Congress, he uttered the v/ords 
which we have quoted elsewhere, and which shows how fully 
he had mastered the character of his associates in that body : 
" If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, 
is by far the greatest orator ; but if you speak of solid infor- 
mation and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is unques- 
tionably the greatest man on that floor." 

The Virginia Convention met again at Richmond, on the 
20th of March, 1775, and its sessions were held in the parish 
church of St. John's, the only building capable of accommo- 
dating so large a body. Mr. Henry, who had been elected a 
member of the Convention, repaired to Richmond to render 
with his colleagues a report of the proceedings of Congress, 
and to take part in the deliberations of the Convention. He 
soon found that the members were disposed to temporize, and 
were clinging to the hope that a peaceable settlement was yet 
possible. It was necessary to bring them to a realization of 
the situation of affairs, and to a determination to abide the 
consequences of their resistance. On the 23d of March, Mr. 
Henry rose in his place, and offered a series of resolutions, 
setting forth the conviction of the Assembly that a well regu- 
lated militia was the only proper defense for a free State, de- 
nouncing the employing of standing armies in America, and 
ordering the Colony to be put in a state of defense at once. 

The resolutions were received by the Convention in profound 
and painful astonishment, for that body had not contemplated 
any more serious resistance than petition, non-importation, and 



PATRICK HENRY. 249 

protests against the injustice of England. The resolutions 
were opposed by the ablest men in the Convention, such as 
Bland, Harrison and Pendleton, " as not only rash in policy, 
but as harsh and well nigh impious in point of feeling." They 
urged that a resort to arms was unnecessary, and declared that 
matters were now in such a position that a peaceful settlement 
was sure and close at hand. They declared that America 
could not hope to make even a respectable struggle against 
such a power as Great Britain. It was clear that the resolu- 
tions had drawn upon Mr. Henry the displeasure of the Con- 
vention, and it required more than ordinary courage to defend 
them. 

He heard his opponents in silence, and then rose calmly, 
and with more self-possession than was usual with him at the 
first, began his reply. He commenced by saying that he 
highly respected the views and patriotism of the gentlemen op- 
posed to him, but took leave to differ with them. This was 
not a time for ceremony, and he should speak his sentiments 
plainly. " He had," he said, " but one lamp by which his feet 
were guided ; and that was the lamp of experience. He knew 
of no way of judging the future but by the past. And judging 
by the past, he wished to know what there had been in the 
conduct of the British Ministry for the last ten years to justify 
those hopes with which the gentlemen had been pleased to 
solace themselves and the House ? Is it that insidious smile 
with which our petition had been lately received? Trust it 
not, sir ; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not your- 
selves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this 
gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike 
preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are 
fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? 
Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that 
force must be called in to win back our love ? Let us not de- 
ceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and 
subjugation — the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask, 
gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array if its purpose be 
not to force us to submission ? Can gentlemen assign any 
other possible motive for it ? Has Great Britain any enemy in 
tliis quarter of the world to call for all this accumulation of 



250 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

navies and armies ? No, sir, she has none. They are meant 
for us ; they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to 
bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British Ministry 
have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to 
them ? Shall we try argument ? Sir, we have been trying 
that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer 
upon the subject ? Nothing. We have held the subject up in 
every light of which it is capable ; but it has been all in vain. 
Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication ? What 
terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted ? 
Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, 
we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm 
that is now coming on. We have petitioned — we have remon- 
strated — we have supplicated — we have prostrated ourselves 
before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest 
the tyrannical hands of the Ministry and Parliament. Our 
petitions have been slighted ; our remonstrances have produced 
additional violence and insult ; our supplications have been 
disregarded ; and we have been spurned with contempt from the 
foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge 
the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer 
any room for hope. If we wish to be free — if we mean to pre- 
serve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have 
been so long contending — if we mean not basely to abandon 
the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and 
which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the 
glorious object of our contest shall be obtained — we must 
fight! I repeat it, sir," he continued with a calmness of tone 
that thrilled through the assembly, ^' ive must fight ! An ap- 
peal to arms, and to the God of Hosts, is all that is left us. 

" They tell us, sir, that we are weak — unable to cope with 
so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger ? 
Will it be the next week, or the next year ? Will it be when 
we are totally disarmed, and a British guard shall be stationed 
in every house ? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and 
inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance 
by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive 
phantom of hope until our enemies shall have bound us hand 
and foot ? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of 



PATRICK HENRY. 25 I 

those means which the God of nature hath placed in our 
power. Three milhons of people, armed in the holy cause of 
liberty, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send 
against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. 
There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, 
and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The 
battle, sir, is not to the strong alone ; it is to the vigilant, the 
active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we 
were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from 
the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and 
slavery. Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be 
heard on the plains of Boston ! The war is inevitable — and let 
it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!! 

" It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may 
cry peace, peace —but there is no peace. The war is actually 
begun. The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring 
to our ears the clash of resounding arms. Our brethren are 
already in the field. Why stand we here idle ? What is it that 
gentlemen wish? What would they have ? Is life so dear 
or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and 
slavery? Forbid it. Almighty God! I know not what course 
others may take; but as for me," cried he, with both arms ex- 
tended aloft, his brows knit, every feature marked with the 
resolute purpose of his soul, and his voice swelled to its bold- 
est note of exclamation, "give me liberty, or give me 

DEATH !" 

He sat down in the midst of a profound silence. Not a 
member could trust himself for a moment. Then several of 
the members sprang to their feet, and the cry "to arms!" 
seemed to quiver on every lip, and gleam from every eye. 
The painful silence was broken by Richard Henry Lee, who 
rose and supported Mr. Henry's resolutions in a speech of 
polished eloquence. The members listened to him with im- 
patience, and calls were made for the question. The resolu- 
tions were adopted, and a committee of which Mr. Henry was 
chairman, was appointed to prepare a plan for arming the 
Colony. The plan was reported, adopted, and put in force in 
due time. 

Matters now came to a crisis in Virginia. Lord Dunmore 



252 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the Governor, seized the powder belonging to the Colony, and 
removed it from the magazine at Williamsburg, to an armed 
schooner in* the James. The municipal authorities of Wil- 
liamsburg protested against this act, and the citizens threat- 
ened to recover the powder by force. A few days later news 
arrived of the attempt of Gage to seize the military stores of 
Massachusetts, and of the battles of Lexington and Concord. 
It was plain that there was a general plan to disarm the Colo- 
nies. The volunteer companies of Virginia flew to arms in 
every county. Seven hundred men assembled at Fredericks- 
burg to march to the capital, but were turned back by an ex- 
press from Peyton Randolph, conveying the assurance that the 
Governor had promised to pay for the powder. 

Mr. Henry was resolved that the matter should not end thus. 
The conflict must come soon, and it was better, in his judg- 
ment, to strike a blow which should put an end to the submis- 
sion of the people to the royal power at once, than to wait 
until an armed British force should be thrown into Virginia. 
He therefore summoned the independent company of Hanover, 
and appealed to the members to sustain him. They made hiui 
their commander, and he set off at their head for Williams- 
burg, to compel the Governor to restore the powder. He was 
joined by similar organizations at every step, and it is believed 
that at le.ast five thousand men were under arms and hastening 
to join him. The news of his approach threw Williamsburg 
into great alarm. Lord Dunmore tried to turn him back with 
a proclamation, but in vain. Captain Montague, of the Fowey, 
man of war, sent a detachment of marines to garrison the 
palace at Williamsburg, and threatened to fire upon the de- 
fenceless and unoffending town of York, if this detachment 
were molested. Still the force under' Henry continued to 
advance, and the Governor, in great alarm, caused Richard 
Corbin, the Receiver General of the province, to meet Mr. 
Henry at Doncastle's Ordinary, in New Kent County, and pay 
him the sum of .^330 for the powder that had been seized. 
This surrender on the part of the Governor acccmplished the 
object of the expedition, and the volunteers dispersed to their 
homes. The money paid by Lord Dunmore was forwarded 
by Mr. Henry to the Virginia delegates in Congress. The 



PATRICK HENRY. 253 

bold action of Mr. Henry was hailed with enthusiasm by the 
Virginians, and resolutions of thanks came pouring in upon 
him from every county. 

Mr. Henry attended the Second Congress which met in May, 
1775, but his presence being necessaiy in Virginia, he soon re- 
turned to his native province. The Convention, after the flight 
of Lord Dunmore, proceed to put the Virginia forces in the 
field. Two regiments of regulars were raised, and Mr. Henry 
was elected by the Convention " Colonel of the First Regiment, 
and commander of all the forces raised and to be raised for the 
defence of the Colony." Mr. William Woodford was made 
Colonel of the Second Regiment. Williamsburg was selected 
as the place of rendezvous, and Col. Henry was at his post by 
the 20th of September. The Virginians were delighted with 
the prospect of having him for a commander, and his popularity 
enabled him soon to fill up the regiments. He had been so 
active in bringing the Colony to resistance that he was anxious 
to make good his words by serving his country in the field. 
The Committee of Safety, however, manifested a most singular 
distrust of his military capacity, and treated him with the most 
undeserved and annoying slights. When the Virginia troops 
were taken by Congress as a part of the Continental army, Mr. 
Henry, who was the Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia 
forces, had the mortification of seeing several of his juniors 
promoted over his head. He thereupon resigned his commis- 
sion. His resignation produced an uproar in the camp, as the 
troops were devoted to him, and resented the shameful manner 
in which he had been treated. Serious consequences might 
have ensued, but he begged them to remain faithful to their 
cause, and to refrain from resenting his wrongs, and succeeded 
in inducing them to continue in the service. 

Immediately upon resigning his command, Mr. Henry was 
elected to the Virginia Convention from Hanover county. On 
the 29th of June, 1776, Virginia adopted a State Constitution, 
and on the same day Patrick Henry was elected by the Con- 
vention Governor of the State of Virginia. The palace at Wil- 
liamsburg was refurnished and prepared for his use, and on the 
fifth of July Governor Henry took the oath of office, and 
entered upon the discharge of his duties. On the 30th of May, 



254 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

1777, he was unanimously re-elected Governor by the Legis- 
lature, and again unamimously elected in the spring of 1778. 
These repeated proofs of the confidence of his fellow citizens 
were most gratifying to him, and were well deserved. The 
three years of his administration extended over one of the most 
trying periods of the war, and he could do little more than 
endeavor to keep up the courage of his fellow citizens, and 
strengthen the hands of Washington. In 1778 he received a 
letter from an anonymous writer, the object of which was to 
win him over to the plot against the Commander-in-Chief of 
the army. He at once forwarded the letter to Washington, 
with one from himself expressing his friendship for and trust in 
him and warning him of his danger. 

The Constitution rendered the Governor ineligible for a 
fourth term, and in May, 1779, Mr. Henry retired from office 
with increased popularity, having given universal satisfaction 
in the discharge of his duties. 

In 1875, Mrs. Henry died after having suffered from ill 
health and loss of mind for several years ; and after this Mr. 
Henry sold his farm called Scotch Town, in Hanover, and 
purchased eight or ten thousand acres of valuable land in 
Henry county, which had been so called in honor of him. In 
1777 he married Dorothea, the daughter of Mr. Nathaniel W. 
Dandridge, and at the expiration of his term of office removed 
to his new estate, and resumed the practice of law. In 1780 
he was elected to the lower house of the Legislature, and 
proved one of the most active and useful members of that 
body. 

As Governor of Virginia Mr. Henry gave a hearty support 
to the reforms which Jefferson and Wythe and their fellow 
workers carried through the Legislature, and as a member of 
that body he was governed by the same wise and liberal prin- 
ciples. " He had a rooted aversion," says Mr. Wirt, "and even 
abhorrence, to every thing in the shape of pride, cruelty, and 
tyranny; and could not tolerate that social inequality from 
which they proceeded, and by which they were nourished. 
The principle which he seems to have brought with him into 
the world, and which certainly formed the guide of all his 
public actions, was, that the whole human race were one 
family, equal in their rights, and their birth-right liberty." 



PATRICK HENRY. 255 

On the 17th of November, 1784, Mr. Henry was again 
elected Governor of Virginia, to commence his service on the 
30th of the same month. His style of living was simple and 
temperate, but the salary of the office was inadequate to the 
support of his family; and he found himself so much involved 
in debt at the end of two years, that he resigned the office in 
1786. He then removed to Prince Edward County, and at 
the age of fifty, was compelled to resume the practice of law 
to rid himself of debt. His pecuniary difficulties prevented 
him from accepting the post of delegate from Virginia to the 
Federal Convention which framed the Constitution of the 
United States. He did not approve the work of the Conven- 
tion, and regarded the Constitution as dangerous to the liber- 
ties of the States. He therefore consented to represent the 
County of Prince Edward in the Virginia Convention, in the 
hope of defeating the ratification of the Constitution by the 
State. 

The Convention met at Richmond in June, 1788. It was 
the weightiest body in point of intellectual ability that ever 
assembled in Virginia. Mr. Henry found himself matched 
against the ablest men of the State, many of whom were his 
fellow-workers in the Revolution. He fully sustained his 
splendid reputation as a master of debate, and his speeches 
against the Constitution are among his best efforts. His labors 
were in vain, however. The Convention ratified the Constitu- 
tion, and he submitted to its decision. His opposition had not 
cost him any of his popularity, and he was able to secure the 
election of the gentlemen nominated by him to the Senate of 
the United States. 

Mr. Henry continued the practice of his profession some 
years longer, but would not engage in unimportant cases, or 
for the ordinary fees. In 1794, he retired from his practice, 
and gave up the remainder of his life to domestic enjoyment. 
He had spent thirty years in public, and had been always open 
and independent in his conduct and the expression of his 
convictions. His countrymen had been able to read his very 
heart, and he retired to private life with a character untar- 
nished, and carrying with him the devoted affection of the 
people. He had paid his debts, had acquired a comfortable 



256 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

fortune, and was in a fair condition to pass the remainder of 
his days in peace. In 1796, he was a third time elected Gov- 
ernor of Virginia, but decHned the office. In 1799, having 
become alarmed by the controversy which was going on be- 
tween the Federalists and the Democrats, he determined to 
return to the Legislature, and throw the weight of his influence 
in that body in behalf of Mr. Adams's administration. He 
was triumphantly elected, but never took his seat, 

" It was in the bosom of his own family," says Mr. Wirt, 
"where the eye of every visitor and even every neighbor was 
shut out — where neither the love of fame, nor the fear of cen- 
sure, could be suspected of throwing a false light on his char- 
acter — it was in that very scene in which it has been said that 
'no man is a hero,' that Mr. Henry's heroism shone with the 
most engaging beauty. It was to his wife, to his children, to 
his servants, that his true character was best known ; to this 
grateful, devoted, happy circle, were best known the patient 
and tender forbearance, the kind indulgence, the forgiving 
mildness and sweetness of his spirit, those pure and warm 
affections, which were always looking out for the means of 
improving their felicity, and that watchful prudence and cir- 
cumspection which guarded them from harm. What can be 
more amiable than the playful tenderness with which he joined 
in the sports of his little children, and the boundless indulgence 
with, which he received and returned their caresses ? ' His 
visitors,' says one of my correspondents, ' have not unfrequently 
caught him lying on the floor with a group of these little ones 
climbing over him in every direction, or dancing around him 
with obstreperous mirth, to the tune of his violin, while the 
only contest seemed to be who should make the most noise.' " 

Mr. Henry was an unassuming, but sincere Christian. 
" Amongst other strange things said of me," he wrote to his 
daughter, Mrs. Aylett, a few years before his death, " I hear it 
is said by the deists that I am one of their number ; and indeed 
that some good people think I am no Christian. This thought 
gives me much more pain than the appellation of Tory, be- 
cause I think religion of infinitely higher importance than 
politics ; and I find much cause to reproach myself that I have 
lived so long, and have given no decided and public proofs of 



PATRICK HENRY. 25/ 

my being a Christian. But indeed, my dear child, this is a 
character which I prize far above all this world has or can 
boast. And amongst all the handsome things I hear said of 
you, what gives me the greatest pleasure, is to be told of your 
piety and steady virtue." 

In the year 1797 Mr. Henry's health began to fail, and con- 
tinued to decline gradually until the day of his death. Towards 
the close of the spring of 1799, the disease from which he had 
been suffering for the past two years hastened to a crisis, and 
he died, surrounded by his family, on the 6th of June, 1799. 
»7 




ISRAEL PUTNAM. 

OF all the generals of the Revolution, Putnam is pm 
excellence the hero of romance, and was next to Washing- 
ton the most popular with the army and people. 

Israel Putnam was born at Salem Village, now Danvers, in 
Massachusetts, on the 7th of January, 17 18. His parents were 
in plain but comfortable circumstances, and were able to give 
him the ordinary education afforded by the New England 
common schools of the day. He grew up on the farm and be- 
came a stout, hearty, active boy, noted for his sturdy indepen- 
dence, his unflinching courage, and his generous and impulsive 
character. He was frank and manly, full of the love of fun, and 
very affectionate. He was quick to resent an affront to himself, 
and as prompt in the defense of others. 

When a very young lad, he visited Boston for the first time. 
As he passed along the street he was taunted by a boy twice 
his size, and much older, because of the awkward and country- 
fied appearance of his clothes. He bore these taunts patiently 
for a while, but finally turned upon his tormentor, and, in the 
presence of a crowd of delighted spectators, gave him a sound 
thrashing. When he was nearly grown, he chanced to hear a 
neighbor's son speak most insultingly of a young girl of the 
village. He at once demanded of the speaker proof of his as- 
sertion, but the latter refused to comply with his demand, say- 
ing, " It's none of your business." " It's anybody's business to 
defend a good girl," cried young Putnam, indignantly, as he 
confronted the defamer. " I knoiv you have slandered Nelly 

P . You think because she is a poor girl, and has no 

father, that you may say what you please about her. Twice 

you've done the same thing. Now own to Charley D , 

here, that you've lied about Nelly, or I'll thrash you." 

Before he had attained his majority, Putnam married a 
daughter of John Pope, of Salem. She bore him ten children, 
and died just as the troubles which led to the Revolution were 

(258) 




ISRAEL PUTNAM. 



ISRAEL PUTNAM. 259 

beginning. Soon after his marriage he removed to Pomfret, 
in Connecticut, and settled on a tract of land he had purchased. 
He set to work to clear it up, and labored manfully to over- 
come the difficulties in his way. He was successful, and in the 
course of a few years brought his rough land under control, 
and had converted it into a smiling and pleasant home for his 
little family. He was accounted one of the best, as well as one 
of the most thrifty and prosperous farmers in his neighbor- 
hood. 

He was much annoyed, and put to considerable loss, by the 
depredations of a she-wolf and her young, which for several 
years infested the neighborhood. In a single night in the 
spring of 1 743, seventy sheep and goats belonging to Put- 
nam were killed by these animals. The whelps were de- 
stroyed by the hunters, and the dam was at last chased by the 
hounds into a deep rocky cavern about three miles from Put- 
nam's house. The neighbors collected about the cave, and 
endeavored to drive out the wolf with smoke and the fumes of 
sulphur; but in vain. The dogs were then sent in after her, 
but were driven out, maimed and howling. Finding that no 
one would venture into the cave, Putnam, gun in hand, de- 
scended into it, shot the wolf, and brought her out in triumph. 
From this time he was the hero of his community. 

When the New England Colonies became engaged in the 
French War, Putnam was among the first to volunteer for 
service in the army. He was given a captain's commission by 
General Lyman, with orders to raise a company. This was an 
easy task for him, and he was soon on his way to Fort Edward 
with a company of rangers, composed of the flower of the 
young men of his neighborhood. His company was from the 
first employed on detached duty, and was constantly engaged 
in reconnoissances and similar expeditions. Putnam performed 
many daring and perilous exploits, and several times narrowly 
escaped with his life. After the defeat of Dieskau, Johnson 
built Fort William Henry at the head of Lake George, gar- 
risoned that work and Fort Edward, and dismissed the rest of 
the troops to their homes. Putnam returned to Pomfret. 

In May, 1756, England formally declared war against France, 
and in the spring of this year Putnam was again in the field. 



260 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

His company formed a part of General Webb's command, in 
Abercrombie's army. On one occasion, while reconnoitring 
near Ticonderoga, with a single companion, Putnam found 
himself far within the French lines before either he or his com- 
panion were aware of it. They were discovered and fired upon 
by the French sentinels, who slightly wounded Putnam's com- 
panion. They made their escape in the darkness, followed by a 
shower of bullets, one of which cut a hole in Putnam's canteen, 
and fourteen of which passed through the blanket he wore 
strapped to his back. He was engaged in several hard-fought 
skirmishes during the year. In the winter of 1756 the Con- 
necticut troops returned home, and Putnam was rewarded by 
the Assembly of Connecticut with a major's commission. 

In the spring of 1757 he returned to Fort Edward, and was 
once more under Webb's command. The latter had with him 
a force of 7,000 efficient troops, and when Montcalm laid siege 
to Fort William Henry, Putnam was anxious to go to the relief 
of that post. He was prevented by the cowardly Webb, who 
despatched a letter to Colonel Monroe, advising him to sur- 
render to the French. Putnam was indignant at the dastardly 
conduct of his commander, and a few days later, when visiting 
the ruins of Fort William Henry, which had been destroyed by 
the French, he wept like a child on beholding the bodies of the 
garrison and the women and children that had been massacred 
by the Indians. 

Late in August Webb was succeeded in the command at Fort 
Edward by General Lyman, an officer more to Putnam's liking. 
Putnam's command was stationed on an island in the Hudson, 
known as Rogers's Island. He was engaged in several sharp 
encounters with the Indians. One of these was fought in diso- 
bedience of Lyman's orders, for the purpose of saving a detach- 
ment of British regulars. He accomplished his object, and 
Lyman was too true a soldier to reprimand him. He spent 
this winter with his command on the island. Early one 
morning in February, 1758, a fire broke out in Fort 'Edward, 
and made considerable progress before it was discovered. The 
garrison turned out and endeavored to check the flames, but 
without success. Putnam and a detachment of his men crossed 
the river on the ice as soon as they saw the fire, and reached 



ISRAEL PUTNAM. 26 1 

the fort just as the flames were nearing the magazine. The 
water gate was thrown open, and the men formed a hne to pass 
up buckets of water from the river. Putnam mounted to the 
roof, and as the buckets were passed up to him dashed them 
upon the flames. His position was one of imminent danger, 
but he held it until ordered down by the commander of the fort. 
He leaped to the ground just as the roof fell in with a crash. 

The fire was now but a few feet from the magazine, and the 
danger of an explosion was imminent. Unmindful of it, Put- 
nam sprang between the flames and the magazine, which was 
already charred by the heat, and dashed bucketful after bucket- 
ful of water upon the magazine. The example of his splendid 
courage was contagious. The garrison joined him heartily in 
the effort to save the magazine, and Colonel Haviland, the 
commander, exclaimed : " If we must be blown up, we will go 
all together." At last the flames were subdued, and the fort 
saved from destruction. When the danger was over Putnam 
withdrew, amid the cheers of the garrison, to have his severe 
burns dressed. His injuries were so serious that he was con- 
fined to the hospital for a month. 

Putnam was with Abercrombie's army in the advance upon 
Ticonderoga, in the spring of 1758, and commanded the de- 
tachment engaged on the side of the English in the skirmish 
in which Lord Howe lost his life. He and his Rangers per- 
formed gallant service in this campaign, and after the return of 
the army from Lake Champlain, moved back to their camp on 
Rogers's Island, at Fort Edward. 

A few days after his return. Major Putnam went on a visit 
to Fort Miller, on the Hudson, about nine miles below Fort 
Edward. He crossed the river in a bateau, and was about 
to land, when he was surprised by a large number of Indians, 
some rushing along the shore, and others bearing down upon 
him in canoes. He saw that to attempt to cross the river 
would be to fall into their hands, and that his only chance of 
escape lay in trusting himself to the mercy of the rapids, which 
were roaring over the rocks a short distance below him. He 
did not hesitate, but headed his boat at once for the rapids, 
down which it shot in safety, to the amazement of the savages, 
who had never ventured to descend them in their canoes. 



262 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Arrived at the foot of the rapids, Putnam made for the shore, 
and efifected his escape. The Indians, beheving that he was 
under the especial protection of the Great Spirit, abandoned 
the chase. 

Early in August Putnam and Rogers, with their commands, 
amounting to about 500 men, were sent to South Bay to watch 
the enemy. Learning that a French and Indian force undei 
Molang was trying to cut them off, they fell back towards Fort 
Edward. Near Fort Ann they fell into an Indian ambuscade, 
and a desperate hand-to-hand fight ensued. Putnam became 
separated from his men, and slew several Indian warriors with 
his own hand. At length he encountered a stalwart savage, 
and presented his musket to his breast. The gun missed fire, 
and the savage, seizing Putnam, bound him to a tree, and in 
this perilous situation he remained exposed to the fire of both 
parties until the close of the engagement. Several balls went 
through his clothing and a number struck the tree. 

The French and Indians were finally repulsed, and retreated, 
carrying Putnam with them. On the march he suffered many 
insults and cruelties from the Indians. At length, the savages 
prepared to put their prisoner to death with cruel torments. 
They tied him to a tree, and heaping dried fagots around him, 
set fire to the pile. Just at this moment the flames were extin- 
guished by a sudden shower of rain, accompanied with severe 
thunder and lightning. The savages for a moment hesitated 
whether to continue the murder of one who seemed to be pro- 
tected by the Great Spirit; but their ferocity got the better of 
thfeir superstition, and the pile was lighted again. Putnam now 
believed his fate inevitable, and resigned himself to it, but res- 
cue came from a sudden and unexpected quarter. Molang, the 
French commander of the party, having been informed by an 
Ind'an of the intended execution of Putnam, hastened to pre- 
vent it. He dashed into the throng of savages, knocking them 
right and left, and, tossing away the burning fagots, cut the 
cords of the prisoner, and rescued him from the horrible death 
that had been his fate had Molang been a few moments later. 
He severely rebuked the savages for their cruelty, and taking 
Putnam under his protection, sent him to Ticonderoga, where 
he was kindly treated by Montcalm, who forwarded him to 



ISRAEL PUTNAM. 263 

Montreal. Upon his arrival at that place, he was in a wretched 
plight. His coat, vest and stockings were gone, what little 
clothing he had was dirty and ragged, and he was cut and 
gashed with wounds, and swollen from his numerous bruises. 
His most pressing necessities were relieved by Colonel Peter 
Schuyler, a fellow prisoner, and he was soon after exchanged 
and permitted to return home. 

The spring of 1759 found him with the army again, and as 
Lieutenant-Colonel he accompanied Amherst in his campaign 
against Crown Point and Ticonderoga. The next year he was 
with him in the invasion of Canada, and was considered by the 
Commander-in-Chief his most reliable officer. Upon the ap- 
proach of the English army to Fort Oswegatchie (now Ogdens- 
burg), they found the river which they must pass before 
reaching the fortress, defend ed by two armed French vessels 
Amherst was in great perplexity, as he could see no means at 
hand of overcoming this formidable obstacle. At this juncture 
Putnam volunteered to capture the vessels, and was placed in 
command of a thousand men in fifty bateaux. He led the way 
with his boat, manned by a picked crew, provided with wooden 
wedges and mallets. His plan was first to disable the vessels 
by fastening their rudders with the wooden wedges, which 
would prevent them from manoeuvring so as to bring their 
broadsides to bear upon the boats. The French were seized 
with alarm at the approach of the boats, and one of the vessels 
surrendered. The other was driven ashore and deserted by her 
crew. The passage of the river was thus left free, and the army 
crossed over, and in a few days compelled the surrender of the 
fort. Montreal and the other French posts in Canada were 
forced to surrender, and the power of France in America was 
forever ended. 

After the surrender of Montreal Putnam returned home. In 
1762, Great Britain having declared war against Spain, a 
powerful armament of regular and provincial troops sailed from 
the Colonies to attack Havana. Putnam accompanied this ex- 
pedition as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Connecticut forces. 
When General Lyman was given the chief command of the 
provincial forces, Putnam became the commander of all the 
Connecticut troops. He bore himself gallantly in the siege of 



264 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Havana, and especially distinguished himself by his gallant 
conduct during a storm, which wrecked a large part of the 
fleet. He returned home at the close of the campaign, having 
greatly added to his well-earned reputation. He also took part 
in Pontiac's War as Colonel of the Connecticut forces, but had 
very little opportunity to distinguish himself 

His nine years of military service had made him one of the 
most noted and deservedly popular men in Connecticut, and 
soon after his return home he was chosen a member of the 
General Assembly of Connecticut. He became noted in this 
body as one of the boldest and most independent of its mem- 
bers, as well as for his strong good sense and sound judgment. 
He was one of the first in his province to propose measures of 
resistance to the injustice of Great Britain, and when the 
Stamp Act was passed in 1765 urged his neighbors not to sub- 
mit to it, and to prevent the stamps from being used. At his 
instigation the people of the eastern counties of Connecticut 
assembled, and marched to Hartford, where they compelled Mr. 
Ingersoll, who had been appointed to distribute the stamps, to 
resign his office. Putnam was not able to take part in this 
enterprise, but sympathized heartily with it. He continued his 
efforts to prepare the people of his province for resistance, and 
his opinions were eagerly sought by them, and deeply influ- 
enced them throughout the whole controversy which preceded 
the Revolution. 

During this time he frequently visited Boston, where he had 
many old friends among the British officers, who had served 
with him in the French war. On one occasion, during a con- 
versation with General Gage, Lord Percy and others, he was 
asked what he intended doing if the controversy should result 
in the armed resistance of the people to the authority of the 
King. Putnam answered promptly that he would be found on 
the side of the people. They expressed their surprise that one 
so well acquainted with the power and resources of Great 
Britain should be willing to embrace a cause doomed to certain 
defeat. " Well," said Putnam, coolly, " if the united forces of 
Great Britain and the Colonies required six years to conquer 
Canada, it would not be easy for British troops alone to subdue 
a country with which Canada bears no comparison." General 



ISRAEL PUTNAM. 26$ 

Gage scouted such an idea, and declared that five thousand 
veteran troops might march from one end of the continent to 
the other unharmed. " So they might," answered Putnam, 
" if they behaved themselves properly, and paid for what they 
wanted ; but should they attempt it in a hostile manner, the 
American women would knock them on the head with their 
ladles." 

When Gage seized the Massachusetts powder at Quarry 
Hill on the ist of September, 1774, the news spread rapidly 
through New England, and the people everywhere got under 
arms to go to the assistance of Boston. When the news 
reached Connecticut it was accompanied by a rumor that the 
people of Boston had been fired upon by the royal troops and 
shipping. Putnam at once summoned the militia of his neigh- 
borhood to accompany him to Boston. His call was answered 
by thousands, but the march was prevented by the arrival of 
more accurate information from Massachusetts. " But for 
counter intelligence," wrote Putnam to the patriot leaders at 
Boston, " we should have had forty thousand men, well 
equipped and ready to march this morning. Send a written 
express to the foreman of this Committee when you have occa- 
sion of our martial assistance ; we shall attend your summons, 
and shall glory in having a share in the honor of ridding our 
country of the yoke of tyranny which our forefathers have not 
borne, neither will we. And we much desire you to keep a stnct 
guard over the remainder of your poivder, for that miist be the 
great means, iinder God, of the salvation of otir cou7itry!' 

Putnam had now removed from Pomfret, and was residing at 
Brooklyn, a short distance south of that place, and on the east- 
ern border of Connecticut. On the morning of the 20th of 
April, 1775, he was ploughing in his fields preparatory to 
planting his wheat and Indian corn. Towards noon a mes- 
senger dashed up at full speed to the farm, and informed him 
of the conflicts on the previous day at Lexington and Concord. 
The news was not unexpected to Putnam. He had constantly 
urged others to be ready at a moment's warning, and he did 
not hesitate for an instant as to his own course. Unyoking the 
the cattle from the plough, he called to the lad who had been 
driving them, "Run to the house for my coat," and hastened 



266 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

to the stable and saddled his fleetest horse. Without stopping 
to change his clothes, he mounted and rode to Cambrido;e, 
where he arrived late that night. The next day he took part 
in a council of war presided over by General Ward, at which 
the plan of campaign was arranged. 

The Assembly of Connecticut at once recalled Putnam from 
Cambridge, in order to have the benefit of his skill and experi- 
ence in putting the troops from that Colony in the field. He 
was commissioned a brigadier-general, and measures were set 
on foot to raise troops for the army before Boston. Putnam 
was too impatient to await the slow process of recruiting, but 
returned at once to Cambridge, where he was soon joined by 
three thousand Connecticut troops. 

When the detachment sent to occupy Breed's Hill marched 
from Cambridge, Putnam followed them during the night, and 
though the senior officer present, did not assume the com- 
mand. His object was simply to encourage the Connecticut 
troops by his presence, and he took his position with them at 
the rail fence breastwork on the morning of the 17th of June. 
As the British advanced to their first attack, Putnam called to 
the men in the breastwork, " Wait till you see the whites of 
their eyes ; aim at their waistbands ; pick off the handsome 
coats." Upon the repulse of the enemy, Major Small, a British 
officer with whom Putnam had formerly been intimate, was left 
alone by his men exposed to the fire of the Americans. A 
score of guns were levelled at him, when suddenly Putnam, 
seeing his danger, sprang upon the breastwork and called out, 
" Don't fire ; he's a friend of mine." Every gun was lowered, 
and Small, raising his hat in acknowledgement of the act, 
walked down the hill. 

Putnam now hurried off to the rear to collect reinforcements 
and hasten them to the line on Breed's Hill. On his return he 
met the retreating Americans, who had been driven from their 
position, passing over Bunker Hill. He at once endeavored to 
rally them. Seizing the Connecticut flag in one hand and 
waving his sword in the other, he shouted, " Make a stand 
here; we can stop them yet. In God's name, fire; give them one 
shot more !" His efforts were in vain ; he shouted, he com- 
manded, he pleaded, he cursed the men, and swore at them 



ISRAEL PUTNAM. 26/ 

like a madman, but he was unable to bring them to a stand. 
He was the last man to leave Bunker Hill, and finally suc- 
ceeded in rallying a part of the troops, and uniting them with a 
detachment which had arrived fi-om Cambridge too late to take 
part in the battle, took position at Prospect Hill and fortified it. 
At the close of the war the old hero, then an invalid on 
crutches, rose in the little church of Brooklyn, of which he was 
a member, and made a public confession of his profanity at 
Bunker Hill. " But," he added naively, " it was almost enough 
to make an angel swear to see the cowards refuse to secure a 
victory so easily won." 

On the 19th of June, two days after the battle, Putnam was 
appointed by Congress one of the four major-generals of the 
Continental army. He did not receive the commission until 
the 3d of July. In the meantime. General Gage, through his 
friend, Major Small, had conveyed to Putnam the assurance 
that if he would embrace the royalist cause he should receive 
a major-general's commission in the British army, and a con- 
siderable reward in money. The offer was indignantly refused. 

General Putnam bore an important part in the siege of Bos- 
ton, and commanded the centre of the Continental army, which 
was at Cambridge. No works on the line were thrown up with 
such rapidity as those under his superintendence. " You seem, 
general," said Washington to him, "to have the faculty of 
infusing your own spirit into all the workmen you employ." 
Towards the close of the year 1775 one of the officers, writing 
from Boston, observed, " Everything thaws here except old 
Put. He is still as hard as ever, crying out for powder, pow- 
der, powder. Ye gods, give us powder !" 

After the evacuation of Boston, General Putnam was placed 
by Washington in command of New York, and put the city 
under rigid military rule. He effectually stopped the com- 
munication that had been going on between the British fleet in 
the harbor and the city. Two days before the battle of Long 
Island he was placed in command of the American force on 
that island, in place of General Greene, who had been taken ill. 
"He was made happy," says Colonel Reed, "by obtaining 
leave to go over. The brave old man was quite miserable at 
being kept here." Putnam, new to the command, did not have 



268 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

time to acquaint himself with the position before the British 
made the attack which resulted in the disastrous defeat of Lord 
Stirling's command, and the loss of the fortified posts beyond 
the lines. After the retreat from Long Island, Putnam was in 
favor of abandoning New York at once. He was overruled, 
however, and was left with five thousand men to hold the city, 
while the army withdrew to the upper part of the island. On 
the 15th of September, the enemy having landed on the upper 
part of the island, he was ordered by Washington to evacuate 
New York at once. He conducted the difficult retreat of his 
division with success. " It was a forced march, on a sultry 
day, under a burning sun and amid clouds of dust. His army 
was encumbered with women and children, and all kinds of 
baggage." " Without his extraordinary exertions," says Col. 
Humphreys, " the guards must have been inevitably lost, and 
it is probable the entire corps would have been cut in pieces." 
In November, 1776, General Putnam was sent by Washing- 
ton to take command at Philadelphia, and was ordered to for- 
tify that city, the retention of which was of the highest import- 
ance to the Americans. He was also charged to overawe the 
Tories of that region, who were becoming dangerous. He 
performed his duties with his customary zeal and with success. 
While he was thus engaged the battles of Trenton and Prince- 
ton were fought. He rejoined the army after it went into 
winter quarters at Norristown, and was stationed by Washing- 
ton at Princeton, on the extreme right of the line. His position 
was perilous, but he induced the enemy to think his force was 
much stronger than it was. " A British officer, Captain Mac- 
pherson, was lying desperately wounded at Princeton, and Put- 
nam, in the kindness of his heart, was induced to send in a flag 
to Brunswick in quest of a friend and military comrade of the 
dying man, to attend him in his last moments and make his 
will. To prevent the weakness of the garrison from being dis- 
covered, the visitor was brought in after dark. Lights gleamed 
in all the college windows, and in the vacant houses about the 
town ; the handful of troops capable of duty were marched 
hither and thither, and backward and forward, and paraded 
about, with such effect that the visitor, on his return to the 
British camp, reported the force under the old general to be at 
least five thousand strong." 



•*• ISRAEL PUTNAM. 269 

The passes of the Highlands of the Hudson were of the 
utmost importance to the Americans, as upon their retention 
depended the hold of the Americans upon the river and the 
preservation of the communication between the Eastern and 
Southern States. It was essential that the command of this 
important region should be given to an officer on whose fidelity 
and abilities the Commander-in-chief could absolutely rely. 
Washington, therefore, conferred the post upon General Put- 
nam, who, in the summer of 1777, established his headquarters 
near Peekskill. 

During this summer the Tories of the region in which Put- 
nam was encamped were especially active, and gave the gen- 
eral considerable trouble. One of them, a lieutenant in a Tory 
company, was caught in Putnam's camp, and was tried and 
condemned as a spy. As he was connected with the most 
respectable families of that region, great efforts were made to 
save his life, but Putnam, believing that a stern warning was 
needed, refused to interfere with the sentence of the court. Sir 
Henry Clinton sent a flag to Putnam on the morning of the 
day appointed for the execution, claiming the spy as a British 
officer, and threatening vengeance if he was not surrendered. 
Putnam returned him the following answer: 

Headquarters, August 7th, 1777. 
Sir: — Edmund Palmer, an officer in the enemy's service, was taken as a spy, 
lurking within our lines. He has been tried as a spy, condemned as a spy, and 
shall be executed as a spy; and the flag is ordered to depart immediately. 

•* Israel Putnam. 
"P. S. He has been accordingly executed." 

Putnam was not troubled with spies after that. 

On the 6th of October Sir Henry Clinton, who had ascended 
the Hudson with a considerable force, captured Forts Clinton 
and Montgomery at the entrance to the Highlands. At the 
commencement of the attack a messenger was despatched to 
General Putnam for aid; but he proved treacherous, and Putnam 
knew nothing of the attack until the forts had fallen. The loss 
of these forts compelled Putnam to withdraw from the moun- 
tains and leave the Hudson open to Clinton. Finding that the 
latter did not venture to improve his success, he recrossed the 
mountains with reinforcements and again occupied the High-' 
land passes, while Clinton, having learned of Burgoyne's sur- 



2/0 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. * 

render, fell back to New York. Putnam was soon strongly 
reinforced from Gates's army. 

While thus engaged, General Putnam was informed of the 
death of his second wife, to whom he was devotedly attached. 
She had died at the house of Beverly Robinson, and he has- 
tened there at once, saw her buried, and stifling his grief went 
back promptly to his post. He was not the man to let his 
private woes interfere with his public duties. 

Early in January, 1778, Putnam was ordered by Washington 
to fortify the Highlands securely, and to push the work with 
vigor. He selected West Point as the most suitable place for 
the proposed works. Forts Clinton and Putnam were built 
under the direction of Kosciusko. The greater part of the work 
was done after Putnam's removal from his command. 

The loss of the Highland forts had given rise to such a strong 
demand for the removal of Gen. Putnam, that Washington felt 
obliged to comply with it. He wrote to the veteran, "General 
McDougall is to take the command of the army in the High- 
lands. My reason for making this change is owing to the 
prejudices of the people, which, whether well or ill-grounded, 
must be indulged; and I should think myself wanting injustice 
to the public, and candor toward you, were I to continue you 
in a command after I have been in almost direct terms informed 
that the people of New York will not render the necessary 
support and assistance while you remain at the head of that 
department." 

Putnam cheerfully submitted to the decision of the Comman- 
der-in-chief, and returned to Connecticut, where he passed the 
spring of 1778 in raising and forwarding the new levies which 
enabled W^ashington to follow Clinton on his withdrawal from 
Philadelphia, and to fight him at Monmouth. In the summer 
of 1778, Putnam returned to the army, and resumed the com- 
mand of the right wing. 

The winter of 1778-79 was passed by the Connecticut and 
New Hampshire troops at Reading, in Connecticut. It was a 
season of trial and suffering, and at last the fortitude of the 
Connecticut men gave way. They rose in open mutiny, and 
resolved to march to Hartford and compel the Assembly of 
their State to supply their wants. As soon as Putnam heard 



ISRAEL PUTNAM. 2/1 

of the mutiny, he sprang on his horse, and galloped to the 
scene. He arrived in the camp just as the men were assem- 
bling under arms. Reining in his horse, he addressed them 
earnestly. "My brave lads," he exclaimed, "where are you 
going? Do you intend to desert your officers, and to invite 
the enemy to follow you into the country? Whose cause have 
you been fighting and suffering so long in? Is it not your 
own? Have you no property, no parents, wives, or children? 
You have behaved like men so far; all the world is full of 
your praise, and posterity will stand astounded at your deeds. 
But not if you spoil all at last. Don't you consider how much 
the country is distressed by the war, and that your officers 
have not been better paid than yourselves? But we all expect 
better times, and that the country' will do us ample justice. 
Let us stand by one another, then, and fight it out like brave 
soldiers. Think what a shame it would be for Connecticut 
men to run away from their officers." The sight of their old 
general, and his rough eloquence, completely conquered the 
men. They gave him three hearty cheers, and dispersed to 
their quarters, resolved to bear their sufferings with patience. 
During the same winter General Putnam was visiting at the 
house of a friend near Horseneck, now West Greenwich. He 
had just dressed himself, and was standing at the mirror in his 
room, shaving himself While thus engaged he saw reflected 
in the glass a body of British dragoons marching up the road. 
He dropped his razor, seized his sword, and mounting his horse, 
hastened to prepare his small escort to meet the enemy. The 
British force consisted of a body of about 1500 men, under 
General Tryon, on their way to destroy the salt works at Horse- 
neck Landing. Putnam endeavored to check them with one 
hundred and fifty men, but his little band was soon routed, and 
he was obliged to put spurs to his horse and fly towards Stam- 
ford. He was closely pursued by a party of British dragoons. 
Perceiving that they were gaining upon him, he wheeled his 
horse, and dashed at a full gallop down a rocky declivity, 
reached the bottom in safety, and escaped. The dragoons did 
not dare to follow him down such a breakneck precipice, but 
sent a volley of bullets after him. Reaching Stamford, he col- 
lected a party of militia, pursued Tryon, captured forty of his men, 
and recovered a large part of the plunder he was carrying away 



2/2 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

In the summer of 1779, Putnam rejoined the army and again 
commanded the right wing. When the army went into winter 
quarters he paid a visit to his family at Brooklyn, in Connecti- 
cut. In December, 1779, he set out on his return to camp, 
and, while on his journey, was seized at the house of his friend 
Colonel Wadsworth, in Hartford, with a paralysis of the right 
side. All attempts to conquer the disease being in vain, the 
old soldier was obliged to bid adieu to the army and retire to 
his home. Fortunately he was sufficiently well off in worldly 
goods to be able to pass the rest of his days in comfort. His 
activity, as well as his military life, was at an end, however, and 
the balance of his life was spent in peaceful retirement. 

General Putnam lived for eleven years after his retirement 
from the army, receiving many gratifying evidences of the 
affection of his countrymen. On the 27th of May, 1790, he 
was seized with an acute inflammatoiy disease, and on the 
29th expired peacefully. He was buried in the cemetery of 
the town of Brooklyn, and was followed to the grave by a 
vast concourse of the people of the surrounding country. A 
simple monument marks his grave, bearing this inscription : 
" This monument is erected to the memory of the Honorable 
Israel Putnam, Esq., Major General in the Armies of the United 
States of America, who was born at Salem, in the province of 
Massachusetts, on the 7th of January, 17 18, and died at Brook- 
lyn, in the State of Connecticut, on the 29th day of May, 
A. D., 1790." 

To this brief inscription nothing better can be added than 
the brief but eloquent tribute of Irving: "A yeoman warrior 
fresh from the plow, in the garb of rural labor ; a patriot brave 
and generous, but rough and ready, who thought not of him- 
self in time of danger, but was ready to serve in any way, and 
to sacrifice official rank and self-glorification to the good of 
the cause. He was eminently a soldier for the occasion. His 
name has long been a favorite one with young and old ; one 
of the talismanic names of the Revolution, the very mention 
of which is like the sound of a trumpet. Such names are the 
precious jewels of our history, to be garnered up among the 
treasures of the nation, and kept immaculate from the tarnish- 
ing breath of the cynic and the doubter." 




SAMUEL C. ADAMS. 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 

IF the Revolution could have been the work of one man, that 
one would have been Samuel Adams. He wa.s the first man 
in America to conceive of national independence, the first to 
propose it openly, and the first to labor and scheme for its 
accomplishment. 

Samuel Adams was born at Boston on the 22d of Septem- 
ber, 1722. His ancestors were among the first settlers of New 
England, and his family one of the most respectable in the 
province. His father was a man of means, and represented 
the town of Boston in the lower house of the General Court for 
many years, and until his death. 

Young Adams was carefully educated, and after le^ing the 
grammar school entered Harvard College, where he became 
noted as one of the most diligent and laborious students in the 
establishment. He became proficient in classical learning, 
logic and natural philosophy. Being destined for the ministry, 
his studies were particularly directed to systematic divinity. In 
1740 he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in 1743 that 
of Master of Arts. On the latter occasion he chose for discus- 
sion the significant question, " Whether it be lawful to resist 
the supreme magistrate, if the commonwealth cannot be other- 
wise preserved ?" and maintained the affirmative of this propo- 
sition. 

For some reason unknown, Mr. Adams did not carry out his 
intention of entering the ministry, and upon leaving school 
was apprenticed to Mr. Thomas Cushing, a leading merchant 
of Boston. He was not suited to mercantile life, however, and 
gave but little attention to it. The study of politics was his 
delight, and he began the practice of contributing articles on 
political subjects to the newspapers of Boston. His father now 
set him up in trade for himself with a considerable capital, but 
his imperfect knowledge of business brought him to a failure 
in the course of a few years. When he was twenty-five years 
18 ( 273 ) 



274 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

old his father died, and, as he was the oldest son, the care of 
the family and management of the estate devolved upon him. 
He gave signal proof of his ability now by saving the estate 
from the loss of a troublesome suit in which it had become in- 
volved. 

About this time Mr. Adams was elected to the office of tax 
gatherer, and in this capacity made his formal entrance upon 
public life. His political adversaries humorously called him 
" Samuel the Publican." The office was one which required 
considerable financial ability, which he did not possess, and he 
did not hold it long. He gave most of his time to political 
discussion, and was recognized as one of the most powerful 
writers and speakers on the popular side. By devoting himself 
so much to these matters, he became embarrassed in his pecu- 
niary affairs, and his friends were obliged to assist him. 

Samuel Adams was a true New Englander, and therefore was 
a firm believer in the power of association. His plan from the 
first w^to combine the Colonies in a powerful organization for 
the protection of their rights, and he began by forming a private 
political club in Boston, of which he was the ruling spirit. 
This club became the secret source from which proceeded the 
steady and persistent resistance to British aggression, which, 
beginning in Boston, soon embraced all New England, and 
finally the whole country. Under his influence the club de- 
termined to resist every act of British injustice. Mr. Adams 
was well fitted to be the leader of such a movement. " His 
vigorous and manly will resembled in its tenacity well-tempered 
steel, which may ply a little, but will not break. In his reli- 
gious faith he had from childhood been instituted a Calvinist of 
the straitest sect; and his riper judgment and acuteness in dia- 
lectics confirmed him in its creed. In his views on Church 
government he adhered to the Congregational forms, as most 
friendly to civil and religious liberty. He was a member of the 
Church, and in a rigid community was an example in severity 
of morals and the scrupulous observance of every ordinance. 
Evening and morning his house was a house of prayer; and no 
one more revered the Christian Sabbath. The austere purity 
of his life witnessed the sincerity of his profession. He was a 
tender husband, an affectionate parent, and relaxing from severer 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 2/5 

Cares, he could vividly enjoy the delights of conversation with 
triends ; but the walls of his modest mansion never witnessed 
dissipation, or levity, or frivolous amusements, or anything in- 
consistent with the discipline of the man whose incessant prayer 
for his birthplace was, that 'Boston might become a Christian 
Sparta,' 

" He was at this time near two and forty years of age ; poor, 
and so contented with poverty, that men censured him as 
'wanting wisdom to estimate riches at their just value.' But 
he was frugal and temperate ; and his prudent and industrious 
wife, endowed with the best qualities of a New England woman, 
knew how to work with her own hands, so that the small 
resources, which men of the least opulent class would have 
deemed a very imperfect support, were sufficient for his simple 
wants. Yet such was the union of dignity with economy that 
whoever visited him saw around him every circumstance of 
propriety. Above all, he combined with poverty a stern and 
incorruptible integrity. 

" His nature was keenly sensitive, yet he bore with mag- 
nanimity the neglect of friends and the malignity of enemies. 
Already famed as a political writer, employing wit and sarcasm, 
as well as eulogy of language and earnestness, no one had 
equal influence over the popular mind. No blandishments of 
flattery could lull his vigilance, no sophistry deceive his pene- 
tration. Difficulties could not discourage his decision, nor 
danger appal his fortitude. He had also an affable and per- 
suasive address, which could reconcile conflicting interests and 
promote harmony in action. He never, from jealousy, checked 
the advancement of others ; and in accomplishing great deeds 
he took to himself no praise. Seeking fame as little as for- 
tune, and office less than either, he aimed steadily at the good 
of his country and the best interests of mankind. Of despond- 
ency he knew nothing ; trials only nerved him for severer 
struggles ; his sublime and unfaltering hope had a cast of 
solemnity, and was as much a part of his nature as if his confi- 
dence sprung from insight into the divine decrees, and was as 
firm as a sincere Calvinist's assurance of his election. For 
himself and for others he held that all sorrow and losses were 
to be encountered, rather than liberty should perish. Such 



276 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

was his deep devotion, such his inflexibility and courage, he 
may be called the last of the Puritans."^ 

When the Stamp Act was proposed it was resolved by Mr. 
Adams and his associates to oppose it. A town meeting was 
held in Boston in May, 1764, at which the matter was dis- 
cussed, and at his motion resolutions were adopted denying the 
right of Great Britain to impose taxes upon the Colonies, and 
urging all the Colonies to unite in opposing the measures of 
Parliament. " If our trade may be taxed," said the meeting in 
the words of Samuel Adams, " why not our lands and every- 
thing that we possess ? If taxes are laid upon us in any shape, 
without having a legal representation where they are laid, are 
we not reduced from the character of free subjects to the 
miserable state of tributary slaves ? This annihilates our 
charter right to govern and tax ourselves. We claim British 
rights not by charter only ; we are born to them." 

Mr. Adams, in September, 1765, was elected to the house 
of Assembly of the General Court as a representative from 
the town of Boston. In October of the same year he pre- 
pared the answer of the Assembly to Governor Bernard, in 
which the position of Massachusetts was formally taken in 
opposition to the injustice of the Crown. Mr. Adams did not 
confine his opposition to the Stamp Act to resolutions and 
protests, however. He heartily endorsed the course of the 
people in destroying the stamps and stamp office in Boston, 
but severely condemned the riots and public disturbances which 
followed, and gave his personal assistance to the civil authori- 
ties in their efforts to suppress them. 

He opposed the taxes upon tea, oil, colors, etc., as even more 
objectionable than the Stamp Act, and as a clearer evidence of 
the design of England to reduce the Colonies to abject sub- 
jection. He was elected clerk of the Assembly shortly after 
his entrance into that body, and his influence over it soon be- 
came all-powerful. He remained a member of the Colonial 
Legislature for nearly ten years, and was regarded by the people 
as their especial champion, whose business it was to begin and 
to lead the opposition to the acts of the Crown. They were 
not disappointed in him. He was bold, ardent, and determined 

^History of the Lnited States. By George Bancroft. Vol. V., pp. 195-197- 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 2// 

in their behalf, and at the same time so prudent that he risked 
nothing by undue haste. He met the imposition of duties 
upon the articles enumerated above, which occurred in 1767, 
by proposing a non-importation agreement of the merchants. 
The measure was at once accepted and the agreement signed 
by nearly all the merchants in the province, who bound them- 
selves not to import or order any but certain specified articles 
from England, after the 1st of January, 1769, until the duties 
were repealed. These associations spread rapidly throughout 
the other Colonies, and thus another step was made towards 
the union so ardently desired by Mr. Adams. 

It was very plain to him that that the scheme of the Ministry 
could not be enforced without the assistance of the troops pro- 
vided for by the Quartering Act. He had studied the question 
too deeply, and his instincts were too true, not to be convinced 
that the employment of force must result in the total enslave- 
ment of the Colonies if not resisted ; and he saw too clearly 
into the future not to know that successful resistance must end 
in American independence. From this moment he set himself 
to work diligently and unremittingly to bring about that glori- 
ous end. " To promote that end he was ready to serve, and 
never claim a reward for service ; to efface himself and put for- 
ward others ; seeking the greatest things for his country, and 
the humblest for himself" He was quick to detect the pur-, 
pose of the Governor and Commissioners of Customs to em- 
ploy force, and urged the people of Boston to resist the troops 
when they should come. He was not content with addressing 
the people at the public meetings ; he sought them out at their 
places of business, in their homes, and stopped them on the 
streets to converse with them upon the subject. He declared 
that every soldier who set foot in Massachusetts ought to be 
shot down. " The King," he said, " has no right to send 
troops here to invade the country ; if they come, they will come 
as foreign enemies." " We will not submit to any tax," he 
declared, " nor become slaves. We will take up arms and 
spend our last drop of blood before the King and Parliament 
shall impose on us, or settle Crown officers independent of the 
Colonial Legislature to dragoon us." He boldly asserted that 
the institutions of the Colony of Massachusetts were superior 



2/8 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

to those of Greft Britain, and reminded his hearers that their 
ancestors had fled from England to escape kings and bishops, 
and looked up only to the King of Kings. " We are free, 
therefore, and want no king. * * The times were never better 
in Rome than when they had no king and were a free State." 
No wonder that Hutchinson should style this man "the all in 
all " of the Patriot party ; or that the cold-blooded Bernard 
should pronounce him " one of the principal and most des- 
perate chiefs of the faction." 

The troops arrived at Boston on the ist of October, 1768. 
Their presence was bitterly resented by the people, and it re- 
quired considerable tact and forbearance on the part of the 
patriot leaders to delay a conflict. It came at last, in the 
affair of the 5th of March, 1770, known as "the Boston massa- 
cre." The excitement was intense. On the morning of the 
6th a town meeting was held at Faneuil Hall, and was ad- 
dressed by Samuel Adams and others. A Committee was 
appointed to wait on the Governor and demand the removal of 
the troops from the town. At the head of this Committee was 
Samuel Adams. As Faneuil Hall was too small to hold all 
the citizens present, the meeting adjourned to the Old South 
Church, and overflowed it, and thronged the street between the 
church and the State House. Hutchinson endeavored to 
evade the demand. " The people," said Samuel Adams sternly, 
" not only in this town, but in all the neighboring towns, are 
determined that the troops shall be removed." " An attack on 
the King's troops," replied Hutchinson, "would be High 
Treason, and every man concerned would forfeit his life and 
estate." The Committee paid no attention to this warning, 
and repeated their peremptory demand. The Governor, there- 
upon, replied that the Twenty-Ninth Regiment, which was 
chiefly concerned in the affair of the previous night, should be 
removed at once to the Castle, but that the Fourteenth must 
remain in the city. He then cut short the interview by ad- 
journing the Council to the afternoon. 

As Adams and his associates left the State House, there was 
a shout from the throng in the street, " Make way for the Com- 
mittee!" He, "baring his head, which was already becoming 
gray, moved through their ranks, inspiring heroic confidence." 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 2/9 

Proceeding to the church, he made the report o£ the Committee 
to the meeting, and declared the answer of the Governor insuf- 
ficient. In a speech of solemn earnestness, he urged the meet- 
ing to persist in its demand. A new Committee, composed of 
Adams and six others, was appointed to wait on the Governor 
and bear the final demand of the people. 

The Committee repaired to the State House, and were ad- 
mitted to the presence of Governor Hutchinson. He was sur- 
rounded by his Council, and by the commanding officers of the 
British land and naval forces on the station. Hutchinson had 
exerted every means in his power to have Samuel Adams ar- 
rested as a traitor, and sent to England for trial. It required, 
therefore, no ordinary intrepidity in the latter to head the Com- 
mittee on this occasion. Looking his adversary calmly in the 
face, Mr. Adams said, with dignity: "It is the unanimous opin- 
ion of the meeting that the reply made to the vote of the inhab- 
itants in the morning is unsatisfactory; nothing less will satisfy 
than a total and immediate removal of all the troops." 

"The troops are not subject to my authority," answered 
Hutchinson. " I have no power to remove them." 

Mr. Adams' indignation was aroused by the Governor's 
falsehood. Fixing his eyes sternly upon him, and stretching 
forth his arm, which "trembled at the energy of his soul," he 
said firmly and distinctly: "If you have power to remove one 
regiment you have power to remove both. It is at your peril 
if you do not. The meeting is composed of three thousand 
people; they are become very impatient. A thousand men are 
already arrived from the neighborhood, and the country is in 
general motion. Night is approaching; an immediate answer 
is expected." 

Hutchinson quailed before those calm, stern eyes, which 
never left his face, and when the Committee withdrew from the 
room, asked the advice of his Council. That body knew better 
than he that the people were ready to enforce their demand, 
and that the first shot fired in Boston would arouse all New 
England in revolt. The Council therefore advised the Governor 
to comply with the demand of the people. He did so, and the 
Committee were assured that the troops should be removed to 
the Castle the next morninsf. 



280 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

We have stated that Mr. Adams' plan of resistance looked to 
a union of the Colonies. As a means of accomplishing that 
end, he at an early period of the contest became convinced of 
the necessity of establishing in each Colony a Committee, the 
duty of which it should be to correspond with the other Colo- 
nies with respect to the wrongs complained of and the best 
means of redress. As early as 1766 he suggested such a plan 
to a friend in South Carolina, but it was not possible to carry 
it out then, and he did not return to it until 1771. It was then 
not only more feasible, but a necessity. He did not venture 
to propose it to his associates until October 1772, and even 
then they attempted to dissuade him from it. Hancock pro- 
nounced the measure rash and insufficient. Adams persisted, 
however, and at a town meeting at Boston on the 2d of No- 
vember, 1772, moved that a Committee of Correspondence be 
appointed, to consist of twenty-one persons, to correspond with 
the other towns of the province. His plan was to engage all 
the towns in this correspondence, and then to get the Assem- 
bly to confirm the scheme and invite the other Colonies to join 
in it. The resolution was adopted, and a Committee appointed, 
which began its labors the next day under the guidance of 
Samuel Adams. Before the plan of Mr. Adams could be en- 
dorsed by the Provincial Assembly, the General Assembly of 
Virginia on the 12th of March, 1773, adopted a resolution pro- 
posing a general correspondence between the Colonies, thus 
carrying out the design which Mr. Adams had intended to ef- 
fect through Massachusetts. The plan was put in execution 
at once, and in the spring of 1773 Committees of Correspond- 
ence were established in each Colony. Samuel Adams was 
enabled through these Committees to speak to all the Colonies 
as well as to his own province, and the Massachusetts Com- 
mittee sent forth the stirring appeals to the other Colonies to 
be prepared to defend their rights to the utmost and to be sat- 
isfied with no half-way settlement. 

Mr. Adams took an active part in the resistance of Boston 
to the landing of the taxed tea, and gave the signal for its 
destruction on the i6th of December, 1773. He then drew up 
an account of the proceeding which was forwarded by the Com- 
mittee of Correspondence to the other Colonies. 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 28 1 

Repeated efforts were made by the royal authorities to in- 
duce Mr. Adams to abandon the cause of his country. He 
was threatened with especial punishment, and it was intimated 
to him that the royal favor and considerable pecuniary advan- 
tage would reward his desertion to the side of the King ; but 
neither threats nor bribes could shake his fidelity. Soon after 
General Gage was made Governor of Massachusetts, he was 
authorized to make an effort to draw Mr. Adams from the 
popular cause. Colonel Fenton waited upon Mr. Adams, and 
expressed to him the great desire of the British Government 
to settle the troubles in the Colonies peacefully. He said to 
him that he had been authorized by Governor Gage to assure 
him that he was instructed by the home government to confer 
upon him such rewards as would be satisfactory, on condition 
that he would engage to cease his opposition to the measures 
of the government. He added, that it was the advice of Gov- 
ernor Gage to Mr. Adams not to incur the further displeasure 
of the King, as his conduct had already made him liable to 
the penalties of an act of Henry the Eighth, by which offend- 
ers could be sent to England for trial of treason, or misprision 
of treason, at the discretion of the governor of a province ; 
but if he would change his political course he would not only 
receive great personal advantage, but would make his peace 
with the King. 

Mr. Adams listened quietly, and then asked the Colonel if 
he would report his answer literally to Governor Gage. The 
Colonel gave his word of honor that he would. Mr. Adams 
thereupon rose from his chair, and said to him impressively : 
" I trust I have long since made my peace with the King of 
Kings. No personal consideration shall induce me to abandon 
the righteous cause of my country. Tell Governor Gage it is 
the advice of Samuel Adams to him, no longer to insult the 
feelings of an exasperated people." 

The Ministry resolved to punish Boston severely for the de- 
struction of the tea. On the 30th of March, 1774, the Boston 
Port Bill was passed, by which that harbor was closed to com- 
merce of all kinds. Gage was given a force sufficient to enable 
him to execute his orders, and was informed by the Ministers 
that acts of High Treason had been committed in Boston, and 



282 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 

was ordered to take measures to bring the leaders to condign 
punishment. Samuel Adams was especially designated as one 
who should be speedily apprehended and punished. Gage did 
not think it prudent to attempt to seize him just yet, and the 
unjust measures with which the closing of the harbor of Boston 
was connected roused the stern patriot to fresh exertions in be- 
half of his country. 

Mr. Adams was anxious for a meeting of the Colonies in a 
General Congress, and when such a meeting was proposed by 
Virginia, threw all his influence in favor of the cooperation of 
Massachusetts in the scheme. The Assembly met at Salem in 
June, and its first act was to protest against the arbitrary order 
which had removed it from Boston. Mr. Adams was resolved 
that the Assembly should at once accept the invitation to join 
in the Congress and appoint delegates to it. Philadelphia was 
the place proposed for the Congress. It was central to all the 
Colonies, and there was no army there to overawe the delegates. 
The plan suited him admirably. He sounded the members of 
the Assembly privately, and found a sufficient number favorable 
to the scheme. 

On the morning of the 17th of June, 129 members being 
present, he caused the house to give orders to the doorkeeper 
to lock the door and to let no one pass in or out without per- 
mission of the house. He then offered a series of resolutions 
appointing delegates to a general Congress to be convened at 
Philadelphia in September to consult upon the safety of the 
country. The resolutions were received with surprise and dis- 
may by the administration members. The doorkeeper became 
alarmed, and seemed on the point of disobeying the orders of 
the House. The moment was critical in the extreme. Mr. 
Adams, seeing the hesitation of the doorkeeper, walked over to 
him, took the key from him, and put it in his own pocket. 
The resolutions were adopted, and Samuel Adams, Thomas 
Gushing, Robert Treat Paine, John Adams, and James Bowdoin 
were appointed delegates to the Congress, and provision was 
made for defraying their expenses. 

Before the business of the House was concluded, a member 
obtained leave to withdraw on plea of illness. He went at 
once to Governor Gage, and informed him of the action of the 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 283 

Assembly. Gage immediately despatched his Secretary with 
an order dissolving the Assembly. The Secretary found the 
door of the hall locked. He knocked and demanded admit- 
tance, but was refused. Finding it impossible to enter the hall, 
he read the message of dissolution on the stairs. Without 
heeding this, the House proceeded with its business, at the close 
of which it quietly submitted to the fiat of the Governor. 

Mr. Adams took part in the Congress at Philadelphia. He 
found congenial spirits there in Patrick Henry and the Lees of 
Virginia. He was under the necessity that we have spoken of 
in our account of his relative, John Adams, of appearing to 
give up the leadership to others, in order to win them over to 
a support of New England. Yet his influence in the Congress 
was marked. " He was," says Galloway, " the man who, by 
his superior application, managed at once the faction in the 
Congress at Philadelphia and the faction in New England." 
The main thing was to secure the support of the whole coun- 
try for New England ; that gained, he could afford to wait, for 
he knew the rest of his desires were sure of accomplishment. 

Returning home, Mr. Adams gave himself with more than 
his usual energy to the work of preparing his native province 
for the struggle which was now close at hand. In October the 
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts met, and that body took 
measures for the formation of a New England army, and com- 
panies of Minute Men were organized. Mr. Adams was ap- 
pointed a member of the Committee of Safety, charged with 
the conduct of the defense of the Colony. It was deemed best 
for John Hancock and himself, who had been marked as the 
especial objects of British vengeance, to remain absent from 
Boston during the winter and spring. In April, 1775, they 
were lodging at Lexington. 

On the night of the i8th of April, 1775, Gage despatched a 
column of troops to Lexington and Concord, for the purpose 
of seizing the persons and papers of Adams and Hancock at 
Lexington, and of destroying the stores at Concord. He sup- 
posed the movement to be secret, but it was detected by the 
patriot leaders in Boston, and messengers were despatched to 
warn Adams and Hancock of their danger, and to rouse the 
country. 



284 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The message reached the patriot leaders at Lexington about 
one o'clock on the morning of the 19th of April. The alarm 
was at once given, and the messenger sped on to Concord. 
Adams and Hancock tarried to watch the Minute Men assem- 
ble on the Common, and then set out across the fields to Wo- 
burn, accompanied by several friends. A couple of hours 
later a British volley at Lexington began the Revolution for 
which Adams had toiled so long. It was a lovely morning. 
The day dawned brightly and peacefully, the air was heavy 
with the scent of the growing grass and the sweet spring flow- 
ers, and not a cloud obscured the sky above. The notes of 
birds were heard in the budding trees, and the morning breeze 
was soft and balmy. As Adams and his companions walked 
across the fields, the former was thoughtful, but not cast down. 
" It is i fine day," he said at length. " Very pleasant," replied 
one of his companions, thinking that he referred to the beauty 
of the morning. " I mean," said Mr. Adams, earnestly, ''tliat 
this is a glorious day for Ameticay 

He was satisfied as to what would be the result of Gage's 
ill-advised expedition. The Revolution had come. He did 
not expect that it would be an easy struggle, and he knew that 
it would bring with it hardship and suffering for the whole 
country ; but he was convinced that the Americans would suc- 
ceed if they but remained true to the cause. The end would 
be worth any sacrifice. " For my own part," he had written 
long before this, "I have been wont to converse with poverty; 
and however disagreeable a companion she may be thought to 
be by the affluent and luxurious, who never were acquainted 
with her, I can live happily with her the remainder of my 
days, if I can thereby contribute to the redemption of my 
country." 

Immediately after the battles of Lexington and Concord, Mr, 
Adams hastened to Philadelphia and took his seat in the Con- 
tinental Congress, which met on the 19th of May, 1775. His 
services in this body were important. He supported the pro- 
posal of his relative and colleague, John Adams, to appoint 
Washington Commander-in-chief of the Continental army. 
On the I2th of June, 1775, he had the honor, together with 
John Hancock, of being exempted by Gage from the general 



SAMUEL ADAMS. 285 

pardon offered by that commander to the people of Massachu- 
setts on condition of their submission. Mr. Adams was firm 
in his behef that the Colonies ought to declare their independ- 
ence of Great Britain, and was consequently regarded with 
distrust by the more conservative members, who still hoped 
for a peaceful settlement. He came in for his share of the 
odium from which, as we have seen, John Adams suffered, but 
he did not possess the sensitiveness of his kinsman, and con- 
tinued his course unmoved. He believed that the Declaration 
of Independence "should have been made immediately after 
the 19th of April, 1775," and when that measure was proposed 
in Congress, gave it his hearty and powerful support. He had 
the happiness of signing the Declaration on the 4th of July, 
1776. 

Mr. Adams remained in Congress throughout the war, and 
was one of the most influential and active members of that 
body. He was also one of the most hopeful. Even amidst the 
gloom which marked the close of the year 1776, he did not 
despond. He opposed the resolution of Congress on the 12th 
of December to adjourn from Philadelphia to Baltimore. "I 
do not regret," he wrote in one of his letters at this time, "the 
part I have taken in a cause so just and interesting to mankind. 
The people of Pennsylvania and the Jerseys seem determined 
to give it up, but I trust that my dear New England will main- 
tain it at the expense of everything dear to them in this life." 
His sole mistake lay in his hasty condemnation of the cautious 
policy of Washington, into which he was led by his ardent 
temperament. He did not at the time make sufficient allow- 
ance for the difficulties of the Commander-in-Chief, but after- 
wards did him full justice. 

In 1779, Mr. Adams was a member of the Convention of 
Massachusetts, and was appointed one of the Committee to 
prepare a State Constitution. This Committee appointed Sam- 
uel and John Adams a sub-committee to draft the Constitution. 
Their report was accepted by the Convention, with some 
amendments. 

In 1787 he was elected a member of the Massachusetts Con- 
vention for the ratification of the Federal Constitution. He 
was not altogether satisfied with the Constitution, which he 



286 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

feared would destroy the independence of the States, and con- 
sented to support it only on condition that certain amendments, 
which he prepared, should be proposed by the Convention to 
the other States. His amendments were accepted with some 
slight changes by the Convention, and some of them have been 
adopted by Congress and the States, and form a part of the 
"fundamental law of the nation." 

In 1789 Mr. Adams was elected Lieutenant-Governor of the 
State of Massachusetts, and was regularly chosen to that office 
until 1794, when he was elected Governor of the State. He 
was re-elected annually until 1797, when, feeling himself too 
old and feeble to continue in public life, he declined a reelec- 
tion, and retired to private life. 

His last years were passed in great pecuniary distress. He 
had the patriotic satisfaction of seeing his country free and 
entering upon its great success, and he met with what is too 
often a patriot's reward, in being left in his old age to bear 
hardships which he might have avoided had his love of country 
been less ardent. He died in Boston on the 3d of October, 
1803, in the 82d year of his age. 

At the close of the first century of the independence he did 
so much to win, his native State has sought to commemorate 
his services by placing his statue in the Capitol of the Repub- 
lic. His countrymen have not been so tardy in doing him jus- 
tice, but have long since carried out the injunction of Clymer, 
of Pennsylvania, who declared, a century ago, that " All good 
Americans should erect a statue to him in their hearts." 





ANTHONY WAYNE. 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 

\ NTHONY WAYNE was one of the most brilliant generals 
t\ of the Revolution. He was born in Chester county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 1st of January, 1745. His father was a 
respectable farmer, and represented the county of Chester in the 
Assembly of the Province for many years before the Revolu- 
tion, and his grandfather had distinguished himself as a captain 
in King William's army at the battle of Boyne. Anthony 
Wayne passed his early life on his father's farm, and received a 
fair common school education. He succeeded his father as 
representative from Chester in the Provincial Assembly, to 
which he was elected in 1773. He warmly espoused the cause 
of his country, and took a prominent part in the decisive 
measures with which Pennsylvania met the injustice of the 
Mother Country and placed herself on the side of freedom. 

At the commencement of hostilities Wayne was appointed a 
Colonel of the Pennsylvania forces with authority to raise a 
regiment. This he speedily accomplished, as his influence in 
his native county was very great. He joined the Continental 
army with his regiment, and was sent with it, as a part of 
General Thompson's force, to Canada. He distinguished him- 
self by his gallantry and good conduct in this expedition, and 
was wounded in the disastrous engagement in which General 
Thompson was defeated and taken prisoner. In spite of his 
Avound, Colonel Wayne remained on the field, and by his exer- 
tions collected and brought off in safety the broken and scat- 
tered fragments of the troops. 

In the campaign of 1776, his regiment formed a part of the 
force under Gates at Ticonderoga. That commander regarded 
him as one of his most efficient officers, and had a high opinion 
of his engineering skill. At the close of the campaign he 
was rewarded by Congress with the commission of Brigadier- 
general in the Continental army. He was assigned to duty 
with the army under Washington, and remained with it through- 

(287) 



205 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

out the war. He soon became noted among the troops for 
his daring bravery, which won him tne name of " Mad An- 
thony," by which he is popularly known. Captain Graydon, 
who visited the army in the summer of 1777, thus speaks of 
him : " He entertained the most sovereign contempt for the 
enemy. In his confident way he affirmed that the two armies 
had interchanged their original mode of warfare. That for 
our part, we had thrown away the shovel, and the British had 
taken it up ; as they dared not face us without the cover of an 
intrenchment. I made some allowance for the fervid manner 
of the General, who, though unquestionably as brave a man as 
any in the army, was nevertheless somewhat addicted to the 
vaunting style of Marshal Villars, a man who, like himself, 
could fight as well as brag." 

The army at this period suffered greatly from lack of cloth- 
ing, and Graydon testifies that Wayne endured the privations 
of his men. " Even in General Wayne himself," he says, 
"there was in this particular a considerable falling off His 
quondam regimentals as Colonel of the 4th battalion were, I 
think, blue and white, in which he had been accustomed to 
appear with exemplary neatness ; whereas he was now dressed 
in character for Macheath or Captain Gilbert, in a dingy red 
coat, with a black rusty cravat and a tarnished hat." 

At the battle of the Brandywine, Wayne's brigade, with Proc- 
tor's artillery, was stationed in the centre to dispute the pass- 
age of the river by the enemy at Chadd's Ford. The British 
made no serious effort to pass the river at this point until their 
attack on the American right flank had fairly begun. As soon 
as the turning movement was discovered, Wayne was left to 
hold Knyphausen in check, while Greene, with the reserve, 
was sent to save the right wing. When Knyphausen heard 
the sound of Cornwallis' guns on the American right, he made 
a determined effort to force the passage of Chadd's Ford. He 
was held in check by Wayne until the latter was informed of 
the defeat of the right wing. Wayne then withdrew his troops 
and retreated to Chester. Profiting by the delay of the British, 
Washington withdrew beyond the Schuylkill, and took position 
near Philadelphia. 

As it was the intention of Washington to attack the enemy 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 289 

as soon as a favorable opportunity should offer, he detached 
Wayne, with his division, to get in the rear of the British and 
harass them as much as possible, and cut off their train should 
an occasion for doing so present itself Wayne set off in the 
night, and by a circuitous march reached a point within three 
miles of the left wing of the British encamped at Tredyffrin. 
Here he halted and concealed his men in the wood to await 
the arrival of Smallwood and his militia, who had been ordered 
to join him. The weather was severe, and the British army 
continued in camp. Wayne remained all day in his place of 
concealment, his force being too weak to attack the enemy. 
He was in a country abounding in Tories, and information of 
his presence was conveyed by some of these to Sir William 
Howe. On the afternoon of the 20th of September, a strong 
detachment of picked troops, under Major General Grey was 
sent to surprise him. Grey deferred his attack until after 
nightfall. Wayne was warned by a countryman of the in- 
tended attack, but doubted the accuracy of the information. 
Nevertheless he doubled his pickets and patrols, and ordered 
his men to sleep on their arms. At eleven o'clock that night 
Grey made his attack, his men advancing in column with un- 
loaded guns, trusting to the bayonet to do their work. Col. 
Humpton, Wayne's second in command, foolishly exposed his 
men, instead of retreating promptly in accordance with Wayne's 
orders, and the British charged him silently and with fury. 
The bayonet and the cutlass did their deadly work, and nearly 
three hundred of Humpton's men were killed and wounded. 
The rest were routed. Wayne poured a few well directed vol- 
leys into the enemy's ranks, and then retreating a short dis- 
tance, reformed his line. The British did not advance upon 
him, however, but, satisfied with their night's work, retired, 
taking with them about eighty prisoners and eight baggage- 
wagons heavily loaded. 

General Wayne was keenly mortified at the result of this 
affair, and as he was sharply criticised for it by some of the 
officers of the army, he demanded a court martial. The court 
acquitted him of all blame for the disaster, and pronounced his 
conduct all that could be expected of a brave and vigilant 
officer. 
19 



290 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

On the 4th of October, Washington attacked the British 
army at Germantown. Wayne's division formed a part of the 
right wing, and opened the battle by a sharp attack upon the 
British hght infantry, which it drove steadily before it. After 
a stubborn resistance the light infantry broke and ran, hotly 
pursued by Wayne's division. The massacre of their comrades 
on the night of the 20th of September was fresh in the minds 
of Wayne's men. They remembered how the British had 
turned a deaf ear to the cries of their victims for mercy, and 
"they pushed on with the bayonet," says Wayne, "and took 
ample vengeance for that night's work." Their officers tried 
to save those of the enemy who cried for mercy, but the men 
were determined to give no quarter. 

General Wayne won great credit by his gallant conduct in 
this engagement. He had two horses shot under him, and 
was wounded in the left foot and left hand. 

In the council of war called by Washington previous to the 
battle of Monmouth, W^ayne warmly urged an attack upon 
Clinton. It was a matter of principle with him always to sup- 
port the most active and daring measures. In the battle which 
ensued, Wayne's division was especially distinguished, and 
bloodily repulsed the bayonet charge of the British grenadiers, 
led by the veteran Colonel Monckton. In his report of the 
battle to Congress, Washington said : " The catalogue of those 
who distinguished themselves is too long to admit of particu- 
larizing individuals. I cannot, however, forbear mentioning 
Brigadier-general Wayne, whose good conduct and bravery, 
throughout the whole action, deserve particular commenda- 
tion." 

The capture of the Highland forts by the British put the 
Americans to considerable inconvenience, and Washington re- 
solved to attempt their recapture. He reconnoitred the works 
at Stony Point and Verplanck's Point in person; spies were 
sent into them, and information was collected from deserters. 
It was ascertained that the enemy had rendered the fort at 
Stony Point the more important work of the two. It was 
built on a rocky promontory, jutting far out into the Hudson, 
which bounded it on three sides. Between it and the main- 
land was a morass, covered at high water, which could be 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 29 1 

crossed at low tide by a low causeway and a bridge. The fort 
was built on the summit of the promontory, and was armed 
with heavy guns, which commanded the morass and the cause- 
way. The shore at the foot of the hill could be swept by the 
fire of the vessels of war anchored in the river. The fort was 
held by a garrison of 600 men, under Lieutenant-colonel 
Johnson. 

There was only one way in which this strongly fortified post 
could be taken, and that was by a surprise. Washington, after 
weighing well the dangers and difficulties of the undertaking, 
proposed it to General Wayne. It was an enterprise well suited 
to this daring commander, and he is said to have replied to the 
Commander-in-Chief, " General, I'll storm hell itself if yoifll 
only plan the assault." 

The plan was soon arranged. The attack was to be made at 
night by a force of twelve hundred men in two columns, each 
of which was to be preceded by a storming party of between 
one and two hundred picked men of the light infantry. In ad- 
vance of the whole was to move a forlorn hope of forty men — 
twenty in front of each column — commanded by officers of 
resolution and experience, who were to secure the sentries, 
drive in the guards and remove obstructions. The whole force 
was to advance with unloaded muskets, and to trust to the 
bayonet for success. The storming party was to be followed 
at a short distance by a strong reserve, to support it in case of 
need and to cover its retreat in the event of a defeat. " The 
usual time for exploits of this kind," wrote Washington to 
Wayne, " is a little before day, for which reason a vigilant offi- 
cer is then more on the watch. I therefore recommend a mid- 
night hour." 

After securing the works at Stony Point, Wayne was to turn 
the guns of the fort upon Fort Lafayette at Verplanck's Point, 
on the opposite side of the river, which was also to be as- 
saulted at the same moment by a force to be sent down from 
Peekskill. 

For several days the fort at Stony Point was carefully 
watched, and every dog in the neighborhood was privately 
killed, lest the barking of one of these animals should betray 
the march of the detachment. 



292 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

About midday on the 15th of July, 1779, Wayne began his 
march across the mountains to Stony Point. At eight o'clock 
in the evening the troops halted within a mile and a half of the 
fort, and Wayne and his principal officers cautiously advanced 
nearer, and carefully reconnoitred the works and their ap- 
proaches. At half-past eleven o'clock the order was given to 
advance. The troops were guided by a negro man, who was 
well known to the garrison, to which he was in the habit of 
selling fruit, and who had for some time acted as a spy of the 
Americans. He was accompanied by two soldiers disguised 
as farmers. The first sentinel was encountered on the high 
ground west of the morass. The countersign was given by the 
negro, and while he talked with the sentinel, the soldiers 
seized the man and gagged him. The next sentinel was met 
at the head of the causeway, and was served in the same man- 
ner. The tide was in, however, and it did not ebb sufficiently 
to allow a passage of the causeway until after twelve o'clock. 
Three hundred men were left as a reserve under General Muh- 
lenberg, on the western side of the causeway, and the remainder 
crossed the morass and gained the foot of the promontory in 
safety. 

Wayne now divided his men into two columns, for simultan- 
eous assaults upon opposite sides of the fort. One hundred 
and fifty volunteers under Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury and 
Major Posey formed the advance of the right column, and an 
equal force under Major Stewart the advance of the left column. 
In advance of the first moved a forlorn hope of twenty men, led 
by Lieutenant Gibbon ; and an equal force under Lieutenant 
Knox preceded the left column. Wayne led the right column 
in person. 

The troops mounted the hill in silence, and were close upon 
the outworks before they were discovered. A sharp struggle 
took place there with the pickets, who discharged their mus- 
kets. The garrison, aroused by these reports, turned out 
promptly, the works were manned, and a heavy fire of grape- 
shot and musketry was opened upon the advancing columin. 
The Americans never paused, but pressed forward steadily, and 
forced their w-ay into the work at the point of the bayonet 
Colonel Fleury was the first man within the works, and pulled 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 293 

down the British flag with his own hands. Wayne, moving at 
the head of the right column, was struck on the head by a 
musket ball. His aid-de-camp caught him as he was falling. 
Thinking for the moment that the wound was mortal, he ex- 
claimed to them, " Carry me into the fort, and let me die at the 
head of my column." He was borne into the work between his 
aids, and soon regained his self-control. The two columns, 
sweeping all before them, burst into the works, and reached the 
centre about the same moment. The garrison immediately 
surrendered and the fort was won. 

The Americans were flushed with victory, and might have 
been pardoned had they inflicted still greater losses upon the 
enemy. They accepted the surrender of the garrison on the 
instant, however. " The humanity of our brave soldiery," says 
General Wayne, in words which do him honor, "who scorned 
to take the lives of a vanquished foe, when calling for mercy, 
reflects the highest honor on them, and accounts for the few 
of the enemy killed on the occasion," 

"The conduct of the Americans upon this occasion," says 
the British historian, Stedman, "was highly meritorious; for 
they would have been fully justified in putting the garrison to 
the sword; not one man of which was put to death but in fair 
combat." 

General Charles Lee, then in disgrace, generously wrote to 
Wayne, " I do most sincerely declare that your assault of Stony 
Point is not only the most brilliant, in my opinion, throughout 
the whole course of the war on either side, but that it is the 
ip.ost brilliant I am acquainted with in history^; the assault of 
Schweidnitz, by Marshal Laudon, I think inferior to it." 

The Americans did not fire a musket during the assault. 
Their loss was fifteen killed and eighty-three wounded. The 
British lost sixty -three killed; and five hundred and fifty-three, 
including a lieutenant-colonel, four captains and twenty-three 
subalterns, were made prisoners. 

Wayne immediately despatched the following letter to Wash- 
ington: 

" Stony Point, July 16, lyjg, \ 
2 o'clock, A.M. I 

"Dear General : — The fort and garrison, with Col. Johnson, are ours : our offi- 
cers and men behaved lilce men determined to be free. Yours most sincerely, 

"Anthony Wayne. 
^^ General Washington.'" 



294 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

At daybreak Wayne turned the guns of Stony Point upon 
the British vessels in the river and the works at Verplanck's 
Point. The ships dropped down the river, but owing to the 
failure of the force from Peekskill to co-operate properly, the 
attack upon Fort Lafayette was unsuccessful. In consequence 
of this and of the advance of Sir Henry Clinton up the river, 
Washington removed the guns and stores from Stony Point, 
and evacuated that post on the i8th. 

In the summer of 1781, Wayne was sent to Virginia with a 
body of 900 Pennsylvania troops to reinforce Lafayette, who 
was endeavoring to oppose the force under Cornwallis. On 
the morning of the 6th of July, Lafayette was induced to be- 
lieve that the main force had passed the James, and that only 
the rear guard remained on the north side of the river. He 
determined to attack it, and sent Wayne with a body of rifle- 
men, dragoons and Continental infantry, to open the engage- 
ment, while he prepared to support him with the remainder of 
his force. Cornwallis had caused the information upon which 
the attack was based to be conveyed to Lafayette, and stood 
ready with his whole army to crush him. 

The British pickets fell back, according to orders, before 
Wayne's advance. That general moved forward rapidly with 
the Pennsylvania line, 800 strong, and three cannon. He had 
just opened with his field pieces, when the British emerged 
from their concealment in the woods, and he found himself in 
presence of Cornwallis's whole army. It was a moment of ex- 
treme peril, but Wayne did not lose his presence of mind. 
With that sublime audacity which had gained him the name of 
Mad Anthony, he threw his whole force forward with a ringing 
cheer upon the enemy, with whom he became at once hotly 
engaged. At this moment orders arrived from Lafayette, who 
had discovered the true strength of the British, to fall back at 
once. Wayne did so in good order, leaving behind him his 
three pieces of cannon, the horses of which had been killed. 
The whole army then withdrew to a point of safety. Corn- 
wallis declined to follow. The audacity of Wayne's attack 
caused him to believe that the Americans were stronger than 
they really were, and the sudden retreat of Wayne made him 
fearful that the movement was merely a feint to draw him into 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 295 

an ambuscade. Night was near at hand, and he remained in 
his position, and thus allowed the Americans to escape the 
consequence of their error. 

General Wayne participated in the siege of Yorktown, and 
was present at the surrender of Cornwallis's army. He was 
then despatched to Georgia by Washington to take command 
of the American forces in that State. He defeated the British 
and Tories in several well fought engagements, and restored 
order in the State. In recognition of these services, he was 
presented with a farm by the Legislature of Georgia. 

When the army was disbanded. General Wayne retired to 
private life. In 1789, he was elected a member of the Pennsyl- 
vania Convention, in which body he warmly advocated the 
ratification, by the State, of the Federal Constitution. 

Upon the defeat of General St. Clair, in November, 1791, 
that officer resigned the command of the Western army. Pres- 
ident Washington appointed General Wayne as his successor. 
Wayne established his headquarters at Pittsburg, where he col- 
lected his force, and soon brought it to a high state of disci- 
pline. He then advanced into the Indian country, and passed 
the greater part of the year 1793 in pressing back the Indians 
and occupying their country with a chain of forts. The winter 
of 1793-94 was passed by him in camp on the site of the pres- 
ent city of Cincinnati. He had conducted his measures with 
such prudence and skill as to give entire satisfaction to Wash- 
ington. In the spring of 1794 he again moved forward into 
the country of the Indians, who assembled in heavy force to 
oppose him. On the 20th of August he inflicted a crushing 
defeat upon the savages in the battle of the Maumee, and fol- 
lowed up this victory by burning their towns and laying waste 
their lands. In the summer of 1795, the savages, cowed by 
their defeat, and alarmed by the withdrawal of the British from 
the frontier posts, met General Wayne at his camp on the 
Miami, and entered into a treaty with the United States by 
which they ceded all the Eastern and Southern part of Ohio to 
the whites, and withdrew farther westward. 

This was the last service General Wayne was destined to 
render to his country. He advanced with his force to Lake 
Erie, and was seized with his last illness, of which he died at 



29^ AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Presque Isle, in December, 1796, having nearly completed his 
fifty-first year. He was buried on the shore of Lake Erie. 
Some years ago his son Isaac Wayne, Esq., caused his re- 
mains to be removed to his native county. His grave is now 
marked by a tasteful monument, erected by the Pennsylvania 
Society of the Cincinnati. 





BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN was born at Boston, Massachu- 
setts, on the 17th of January, 1706. His father was a na- 
tive of England, and was a soap boiler and tallow chandler by 
trade. At the age of eight years, young Franklin was sent to 
a grammar school in Boston, where he remained two years, 
studying hard and mastering the rudiments of an English edu- 
cation. When he was ten years old, his father took him into 
his chandlery to teach him his own trade, but it was so dis- 
tasteful to the boy, that he was permitted, two years later, to 
become an apprentice to his brother James, a printer. This 
employment was thoroughly congenial to him, and he soon 
became a proficient in the printer's art. His natural fondness 
for knowledge now manifested itself in a marked degree. He 
read all the books he could borrow, and such was his zeal in 
his quest of learning, that he would often pass the greater part 
of the night in reading or study. He thus acquired at an 
early age a remarkable fund of information, and manifested a 
decided fondness for the Socratic mode of reasoning by asking 
questions. 

In 1 72 1, James Franklin began to print the New England 
Courant, the fourth newspaper published in America. Soon 
after its appearance, Benjamin Franklin contributed several 
articles to it anonymously, which were so well received that 
he determined to continue his efforts at literary composition. 
To improve his style he read TJic Spectator, and endeavored to 
imitate it. He was careful and laborious in his writings, and 
in the end acquired a style noted for its singular purity and 
simplicity. His brother, discovering who his anonymous cor- 
respondent was, made constant use of the young man's talents, 
and it must be confessed that the success of the paper was 
chiefly owing to the labors of Benjamin Franklin, who not 
only contributed his modest articles to its columns, but worked 
at the case and the press, and then distributed the copies of 

(297) 



298 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the paper to its patrons. "The little sheet satirized hypocrisy, 
and spoke of religious knaves as of all knaves the worst." 
This was regarded by the authorities and by the more ortho- 
dox people of Boston as tending "to abuse the ministers of 
religion in a manner which was intolerable." The paper soon 
got into trouble, and for this Benjamin was in a great measure 
responsible ; for young as he was he had read Shaftesbury ind 
Collins, and had imbibed a large share of their skepticism. 
He was fortunately able to get the better of this influence in 
after years, but now it was all-powerful with him. In Januar}^ 
1723, the General Court ordered that James Franklin's paper 
should not be published "except it be first supervised." In 
order to evade this prohibition, James surrendered to Benjamin 
his indentures of apprenticeship, and issued the paper in the 
name of Benjamin Franklin. 

Young Franklin had no wish to remain in Boston. His 
liberal opinions had brought him into disfavor with the good 
people of that town, and his brother used him harshly and 
often beat him. He therefore resolved to bid adieu to his na- 
tive town, and seek his fortune elsewhere. In October 1723, 
being then but seventeen years old, he made a bargain with 
the captain of a sloop to take him to New York, and sailed 
clandestinely from Boston. Upon reaching New York he was 
unable to procure employment, and resolved to continue his 
journey to Philadelphia. He went to Amboy in a sailing ves- 
sel, and from that place walked to the Delaware at Burlington. 
Embarking in a small boat for Philadelphia, he was compelled 
for want of a wind to assist in rowing the boat, and reached 
Philadelphia with his hands sorely blistered from this hard 
labor. He set foot in that city with but a dollar in his pocket, 
and without a friend. He had a rich capital, though, in his 
youth, his robust health, his habits of sobriety, frugality, and 
industry, and his indomitable purpose to succeed, and above 
all in the profound genius which burned within him, though he 
was yet unconscious of its force. 

Leaving his boat, Franklin stepped ashore and purchased 
some rolls at a baker's shop, with which to stay his hunger. 
With one under each arm and eating a third; he set out in search 
of a lodging and employment. There were but two printers 



BEN'JAMIN FRANKLIN. 299 

in Philadelphia at the time, Andrew Bradford and Mr. Keimer. 
The latter employed the young man, and soon found him a 
valuable acquisition to his establishment. Franklin pursued 
his studies with ardor, and his excellent habits and love of 
knowledge made him many friends in his new home. Sir 
William Keith, the Governor of Pennsylvania, took a great 
liking to him, invited him to his house, and gave him the use 
of his library. This was a great gain to the young man, as it 
not only placed the governor's books at his service, but 
enabled him to enjoy the benefit of the views of a cultivated 
man of the world. 

Although Franklin was so young, the Governor advised him 
to set up a printing office of his own, and urged him to make 
a voyage to London to purchase the necessary articles. As 
Franklin had neither money nor such connections as would 
enable him to procure credit in England, the Governor 
promised to assist him. Franklin, therefore, made ready for 
the voyage, and just before sailing applied to the Governor for 
the letters he had promised him. He was told they would be 
sent on board, but when the letter-bag was opened as the ship 
sailed, he found that the Governor had neglected his promise, 
and had confined his assistance simply to liberal offers which 
he never carried out. He was obliged to continue his voyage, 
and reached London in the spring of 1724 in as destitute a 
plight as he had landed in Philadelphia. He lost no time in 
idleness, but at once obtained employment as a journeyman 
printer, and by practising close economy saved a considerable 
part of his wages. 

He remained in London a little more than two years, and in 
October, 1726, returned to Philadelphia, as clerk to a merchant 
named Denham. Mr. Denham died in 1727, and Franklin 
went back to his old trade, obtaining employment with his for- 
mer employer, Mr. Keimer, as foreman of his office. He 
proved very useful in this position, for his ingenuity was such 
that he could engrave signatures on copper, make wood cuts, 
design letters and make printer's ink. After remaining with 
Mr. Keimer for some time, he began business for himself in 
partnership with a Mr. Meredith. In 1729 he withdrew from 
this connection and continued the business on his own account. 



300 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

He worked early and late, laboring steadily with his own 
hands ; and avoided no toil, however humble, that could con- 
tribute to his success. He purchased a paper which had been 
conducted by Mr. Keimer in a wretched manner, and gave to 
it a sprightliness and vigor which attracted much attention. It 
did not yield him a profit, however, but soon involved him in 
debt, in spite of his economy and careful habits of business. 
He was relieved of his embarrassments by the generous as- 
sistance of two of his friends. He now added to his printing 
business a small stationer's shop, and from this time began to 
prosper. A few years before this he had married Miss Read, 
an excellent lady of Philadelphia, by whom he had two chil- 
dren, a son and a daughter. 

Though devoting himself with all his ability to his business, 
Franklin did not give up his literary pleasures. He pursued 
his studies with enthusiasm, and extended them beyond the 
field of literature into the domain of science. He organized a 
club called " The Junto," composed of acquaintances of con- 
genial tastes. The Junto met every Friday evening, and ques- 
tions of morality, politics, or philosophy, were discussed with 
ardor. The members frequently brought their books to the 
meeting for reference and discussion, and Franklin conceived 
the idea of founding a public library, to be supported by the 
subscriptions of its patrons. He soon carried this idea into 
effect, and established the noble institution which has since 
grown into the " Philadelphia Library." 

In 1732 Franklin began the publication of Poor Richard's 
Almanac. Its quaint maxims of frugality, industry, temper- 
ance, and integrity, won for it from the first a great popularity, 
which proved more lasting than is common with such publica- 
tions. He continued to issue it regularly for twenty-five years, 
and sold an annual edition of over ten thousand copies. In the 
last number of the almanac the maxims were collected in the 
form of an address entitled " The Way to Wealth," which has 
been published in numerous works since then. He sug- 
gested the establishment of an academy in Philadelphia, an 
institution which has expanded into the well-known University 
of Pennsylvania. 

In the course of a few years he was appointed printer to the 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 3OI 

General Assembly of Pennsylvania, and in 1736 was elected 
clerk of that body. In 1737 he was appointed postmaster of 
Philadelphia, and soon established in that office the excellent 
system with which he managed all his affairs. Impressed with 
the necessity of providing some systematic method for the 
protection of property from fire, he organized in 1738 a fire 
company, the first ever established in this country. In 1744, 
the savages spread terror along the frontier of Pennsylvania 
during King George's War. An effort was made to induce the 
Assembly to pass a proper militia law, but proved a failure. 
Franklin thereupon proposed a volunteer association for the 
defense of the province. In a short time ten thousand volun- 
teers offered their services. Franklin accompanied two expe- 
ditions to the west, and at one time held the command of the 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, In 1747 he was elected to the As- 
sembly of Pennsylvania, and continued a member of that 
body for ten years. He had now become master of a com- 
fortable property, and was one of the leading men of his pro- 
vince. In the legislature his influence was most marked. He 
seldom spoke, and gained no reputation as an orator ; but his 
views upon the questions before the house were eagerly sought, 
and he frequently, by a short, pithy sentence, decided the fate 
of a bill. He took an active part in the discussions with the 
proprietaries and their governors, and warmly defended the 
libert}- of the people. He had in his newspaper constantly 
advocated the most absolute freedom of speech and of the 
press, and defended popular government as the best form known 
to man. " The judgment of a whole people," he declared, " if 
unbiased by faction, undeluded by tlie tricks of designing men, 
IS infallible." 

So well did he manage the affairs of the Philadelphia post- 
office that in 1753 he was appointed Deputy Postmaster-Gene- 
ral of the British Colonies. The postal system had proved a 
wretched failure up to this time, but Franklin infused his own 
energy into it, and reorganized it upon an excellent basis. He 
made frequent visits to the prominent points of the Eastern and 
Middle States, and brought the service to a state of efficiency 
which earned him the gratitude of his countrymen. In 1754 
he was sent to the Congress at Albany as a Commissioner 
from Pennsylvania. 



302 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

This was the most important assemblage that had yet been 
convened in America, and met for the purpose of devising some 
plan for the common defense of the Colonies against the 
French and Indians. Franklin had long been of the opinion 
that the true interests of the Colonies required their union in 
all measures relating to their common welfare. Believing that 
the force of circumstances would soon drive them into such a 
union, he sought to accomplish that end through the medium 
of this Convention. Accordingly he presented to the Congress 
a plan for the union of all the American Colonies, which union 
he meant should be perpetual. He proposed that while each 
Colony should retain the separate and independent control of 
its own affairs, all should unite in a union or confederation for 
the management of their common interests. This confederacy 
was to be controlled by a general government, to be com- 
posed of a Governor-general and a Council. The seat of the 
federal government was to be at Philadelphia, which city he 
regarded as central to all the Colonies. The Governor-general 
was to be appointed and paid by the King, and was to have the 
power of vetoing all laws which should seem to him objection- 
able. The members of the Council were to be elected trienni- 
ally by the Colonial Legislatures, and were to be apportioned 
among the Colonies according to their respective population. 
" The Governor-general was to nominate military officers, sub- 
ject to the advice of the Council, which, in turn, was to nomi- 
nate all civil officers. No money was to be issued but by theii 
joint order. Each Colony was to retain its domestic consti- 
tution ; the federal government was to regulate all relations of 
peace or war with the Indians, affairs of trade and purchases 
of lands not within the bounds of particular Colonies ; to estab- 
lish, organize, and temporarily to govern new settlements ; to 
raise soldiers and equip vessels of force on the seas, rivers or 
lakes ; to make laws, and levy just and equal taxes. The 
Grand Council were to meet once a year, to choose their own 
speaker, and neither to be dissolved nor prorogued, nor con- 
tinue sitting longer than six weeks at any one time, but by 
their own consent." 

This plan met with considerable opposition, was thoroughly 
discussed and was finally adopted by the Convention. It was 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 3O3 

not altogether acceptable to any of the Colonies, each of 
which dreaded that the establishment of a central government 
would result in the destruction of the liberties of the individual 
provinces. Connecticut promptly rejected it, Massachusetts 
actively opposed it, and New York received it with coldness. 
Upon its reception in England it was at once thrown out by the 
royal government. The union proposed by the plan was too 
perfect, and would make America practically independent of 
Great Britain. The Board of Trade did not even bring it to 
the notice of the King. 

Franklin regarded the failure of his plan of union with great 
regret. In after years he wrote : " The Colonies so united 
would have been sufficiently strong to defend themselves. 
There would then have been no need of troops from England ; 
of course the subsequent pretext for taxing America, and the 
bloody contest it occasioned, would have been avoided. But 
such mistakes are not new ; history is full of the errors of 
States and princes." 

During all these years Franklin had steadily pursued his 
philosophical and scientific studies. He devoted a considerable 
part of his time to experiments in electricity, of which he pub- 
lished an account. He conceived the idea that the electric 
fluid and lightning were identical, and his experiments were 
directed to verifying this theory. In the summer of 1752 they 
were crowned with success. He made him a kite of silk, to the 
upright stick of which he attached an iron point. The string 
used was of hemp, except the part which he held in his hand, 
which was of silk, and a key was tied where the hempen string 
ended. Taking his little son with him, he went out in the 
fields, and on the approach of a thunderstorm raised his kite. 
A cloud soon passed over it, but no signs of electricity ap- 
peared, and the philosopher began to despair. At this mo- 
ment he saw the loose fibres of the hempen string move sud- 
denly and then stand upright. He immediately presented his 
knuckles to the key, and received a strong spark. The experi- 
ment was entirely successful, and the truth of his theory was 
established beyond the possibility of doubt. He published an 
account of his discovery, which made him at once famous in 
both ^merica and Europe. A practical use of his discovery 



304 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

soon suggested itself to him, and he invented the Hghtning rod, 
which has since come into common use. He was the first to 
suggest " the explanation of thundergusts and the northern 
lights on electrical principles. * * Nor did he cease till he had 
made the lightning a household pastime, taught his family to 
catch the subtle fluid in its inconceivably rapid leaps between 
the earth and the sky, and compelled it to give warning of its 
passage by the harmless ringing of bells." His accounts of 
his experiments, written in the simplest and most accurate 
manner, were read eagerly by the cultivated classes on both 
sides of the Atlantic, and brought him into correspondence 
with the learned men and societies of Europe ; and he soon be- 
came the best known man in America. His writings on other 
subjects were largely read, and his influence became even more 
marked in the Old World than among his own countrymen. 
His mental activity was very great. His experiments in caloric 
led him to the invention of the fireplace stove which bears his 
name. 

The affairs of Pennsylvania required that province to keep 
an agent in London to manage them, and in 1757, Dr. Frank- 
lin, as he was now generally called, was appointed agent for 
Pennsylvania and sent to England. No better choice could 
have been made. Franklin was now fifty-one years old, in the 
prime of life and intellectual vigor. He was in many respects 
the most remarkable man his country had produced. " With 
placid tranquillity, Benjamin Franklin looked quietly and deeply 
into the secrets of nature. His clear understanding was never 
perverted by passion, or corrupted by the pride of theory. 
The son of a rigid Calvinist, the grandson of a tolerant Quaker, 
he had, from boyhood, been familiar not only with theological 
subtleties, but with a catholic respect for freedom of mind. 
Skeptical of tradition as the basis of faith, he respected reason 
rather than authority ; and, after a momentary lapse into fatal 
ism, escaping from the mazes of fixed decrees and free will, he 
gained, with increasing years, an increasing trust in the over- 
ruling providence of God. Adhering to none of all the reli- 
gions in the Colonies, he yet devoutly, though without form, 
adhered to religion. But, though famous as a disputant, and 
having a natural aptitude for metaphysics, he obeyed tlje ten- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 305 

dencies of his age, and sought, by observation, to win an in- 
sight into the mysteries of being. Loving truth, without 
prejudice and without bias, he discerned intuitively the identity 
of the laws of nature with those of which humanity is con- 
scious ; so that his mind was Hke a mirror, in which the uni- 
verse, as it reflected itself, revealed her laws. He was free from 
mysticism, even to a fault. His morality, repudiating ascetic 
severities, and the system which enjoins them, was indulgent 
to appetites of which he abhorred the sway : but his affections 
were of a calm intensity; in all his career, the love of man 
gained the mastery over personal interest. He had not the 
imagination which inspires the bard or kindles the orator; but 
an exquisite propriety, parsimonious of ornament, gave ease 
of Expression and- graceful simplicity even to his most careless 
writings. In life, also, his tastes were delicate. Indifferent to 
the pleasures of the table, he relished the delights of music 
and harmony, of which he enlarged the instruments. His 
blandness of temper, his modesty, the benignity of his man- 
ners, made him the favorite of intelligent society; and, with 
healthy cheerfulness, he derived pleasure from books, from 
philosophy, from conversation — now calmly administering con- 
solation to the sorrower, now indulging in the expression of 
light-hearted gayety. In his intercourse, the universality of 
his perceptions bore, perhaps, the character of humor; but, 
while he clearly discerned the contrast between the grandeur 
of the universe and the feebleness of man, a serene benevo- 
lence saved him from contempt of his race, or disgust at its 
toils. To superficial observers he might have seemed as an 
alien from speculative truth, limiting himself to the world of 
the senses ; and yet, in study, and among men, his mind always 
sought, with unaffected simplicity, to discover and apply the 
general principles by which nature and affairs are controlled, — 
now deducing from the theory of caloric improvements in fire- 
places and lanterns, and now advancing human freedom by 
firm inductions from the inalienable rights of man. Never 
professing enthusiasm, never making a parade of sentiment, 
his practical wisdom was sometimes mistaken for the offspring 
of selfish prudence; yet his hope was steadfast, like that hope 
which rests on the Rock of Ages, and his conduct was as un- 
20 



306 , AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

erring as though the light that led him was a light from heaven. 
He never anticipated action by theories of self-sacrificing vir- 
tue; and yet, in the moments of intense activity, he, from the 
highest abodes of ideal truth, brought down and applied to 
the affairs of life the sublimest principles of goodness, as noise- 
lessly and unostentatiously as became the man who, with a 
kite and hempen string, drew the lightning from the skies. 
He separated himself so little from his age that he has been 
called the representative of materialism; and yet, when he 
thought on religion, his mind passed beyond reliance on sects 
to faith in God: when he wrote on politics, he founded the 
freedom of his country on principles that knew no change: 
when he turned an observing eye on nature, he passed always 
from the effect to the cause, from individual appearances to 
universal laws: when he reflected on history, his philosophic 
mind found gladness and repose in the clear anticipation of the 
progress of humanity."^ 

Franklin remained abroad for nearly eighteen years. His 
official position brought him in constant contact with the pub- 
lic men of Great Britain, and enabled him to study them and 
their aims more clearly than was possible to his compatriots at 
home; and his reputation as a scientist made him the associate 
of the learned men of England. He was among the first to 
detect the purpose of the English aristocracy to destroy the 
liberties of the colonies. He sent information of the course of 
affairs to his countrymen at home, and warned them to be on 
the alert, and at the same time exerted himself to draw the 
Ministers from their purpose. He was firmly opposed to the 
Stamp Act, and warned Grenville and his associates of the con- 
sequences of that measure. He induced the other Colonial 
agents to unite with him in his representations to the Ministry, 
but in vain. "We might as well have tried to hinder the sun's 
setting," said Franklin. The Ministers were resolved upon 
taxing America, and nothing could move them from their pur- 
pose. "We have power to tax them," said one of the Ministers, 
"and we will tax them." 

The Stamp Act was passed, and the result was as Franklin 

1 Bancroft. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 3O7 

had warned the Ministers. The non-intercourse poHcy of the 
Colonies met with his hearty approval, and he was a witness to 
its good effect in the growing uneasiness and alarm with which 
the English merchants viewed the falling off of their American 
trade. 

The demand for the repeal of the Stamp Act came soon, and 
was supported by Pitt, Burke, and the other friends of the Col- 
onies in Parliament, and without the walls of St. Stephen's by 
the merchants of all England. The Ministers and Parliament 
had already begun to waver ; but before yielding, they wished 
to ascertain from competent witnesses the exact temper and 
disposition of the Americans. All turned to Dr. Franklin as 
the one most capable of supplying this information, and he was 
summoned to appear at the bar of the House of Commons. He 
appeared in answer to the summons on the 13th of February, 
1766. His position was trying and delicate. He was to speak 
for his country, and he must make the sentiment of America 
so plain that Parliament could not mistake it. At the same 
time, he must beware of uttering a word that could offend the 
dignity of the British Government, or injure the cause of his 
country. He had need of all his firmness and self-possession, 
and of his courage also, as his answers might bring upon him 
the anger of the Government. He was questioned by Gren- 
ville and Charles Townsend, and several friends of the adminis- 
tration, and answered readily and calmly. 

In answer to the questions asked him, Franklin told the 
Commons that the Colonists could not pay for the stamps, as 
there was not gold and silver enough in America for that pur- 
pose; that they had incurred more than their share of the 
expenses of the last war, for which Great Britain had not re- 
imbursed them ; that they were still burdened with heavy 
debts contracted in the prosecution of this war; that they were 
well disposed towards Great Britain prior to 1763, and consid- 
ered Parliament as "the great bulwark and security of their 
liberties and privileges ; but that now their temper was much 
altered, and their respect for it lessened ; and if the act is not 
repealed, the consequence would be a total loss of the respect 
and affection they bore to this country, and of all the com- 
merce that depended on that respect and affection." 



308 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

"Do you think it right," asked Grenville, "that America 
should be protected by this country, and pay no part of the 
expense ?' "That is not the case," answered Frankhn ; "the 
Colonies raised, clothed, and paid during the last war twenty- 
five thousand men, and spent many millions." "Were you not 
reimbursed by Parliament ?" asked Grenville. "Only what in 
your opinion," replied Franklin, " we had advanced beyond 
our proportion ; and it was a very small part of what we spent. 
Pennsylvania, in particular, disbursed about five hundred thou- 
sand pounds, and the reimbursement, in the whole, did not 
exceed sixty thousand pounds." 

"Do you think the people of America would submit to pay 
the Stamp Duty if it was moderated ?" "No ; never. They 
will never submit to it." "May not a military force," asked one 
of the Ministers, "carry the Stamp Act into execution ?" 
"Suppose a military force sent to America," answered Frank- 
lin ; "they will find nobody in arms ; what are they then to do ? 
They cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to do 
without them. They will not find a rebellion: they may in- 
deed make one." 

"How would the Americans receive a future tax, imposed on 
the same principle with that of the Stamp Act ?" "Just as they 
do this ; they would not pay it." "What will be the opinion 
of the Americans on the resolutions of this House and the 
House of Lords, asserting the right of Parliament to tax the 
people there ?" "They will think the resolutions unconstitu- 
tional and unjust." "How would they receive an internal reg- 
ulation connected with a tax ?" "It would be objected to. 
When aids to the crown are wanted, they are, according to the 
old established usage, to be asked of the Assemblies, who will, 
as they have always done, grant them freely. They think it 
extremely hard that a body in which they have no representa- 
tives should make a merit of giving and granting what is not 
its own, but theirs ; and deprive them of a right which is the 
security of all their other rights." 

" But if the Legislature should think fit to ascertain its right 
to lay taxes, by any act laying a small tax, contrary to their 
opinion, would they submit to pay the tax ?" " An internal 
tax," said Franklin, " how small soever, laid by the Legislature 



BANJAMIN FRANKLIN. 3O9 

here, on the people there, will never be submitted to. They 
will oppose it to the last." " The people," he answered again 
to the same question under many forms, " the people will pay 
no internal tax by Parliament." 

" Is there any kind of difference," asked Grenville, " between 
external and internal taxes, to the Colony on which they may 
be laid?" "The people may refuse commodities, of which the 
duty makes a part of the price ; but an internal tax is forced 
from them without their consent. The Stamp Act says, we 
shall have no commerce ; make no exchange of property with 
each other ; neither purchase, nor grant, nor record debts ; nor 
marry, nor make our wills, unless we pay such and such sums ; 
and thus it is intended to extort our money from us, or ruin us 
by the consequences of refusing to pay it." " But suppose," 
continued the Ministry, " the external duty be laid on the 
necessaries of life." The answer of Franklin startled the 
house. " I do not know," he said, " a single article imported 
into the Northern Colonies, but what they can either do with- 
out, or make themselves. The people will spin and work for 
themselves, in their own houses. In three years there may be 
wool and manufactures enough." 

" Does the distinction between internal and external taxes 
exist in the charter of Pennsylvania ?" asked a friend of Gren- 
ville. " No," said Franklin, " I believe not." " Then," con- 
tinued the interrogator, " may they not, by the same interpre- 
tation of their common rights as Englishmen, as declared by 
Magna Charta and the Petition of Right, object to the Parlia- 
ment's right of external taxation ?" " They never have hitherto," 
answered Franklin quickly. " Many arguments have been 
lately used here to show them that there is no difference, and 
that, if you have no right to tax them internally, you have 
none to tax them externally, or to make any other law to bind 
them. At present they do not reason so ; but in time they 
may be convinced by these arguments." ^ 

Franklin's testimony was conclusive. The Stamp Act was 
repealed. 

The conduct of Franklin and his answers during his examin- 
ation were warmly endorsed by his countrymen. They drew 

"^ Bancroft' s History of the United States. Vol. V., pp. 428-433. 



3IO AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

upon him the hostility of the Ministers and their supporters, 
however, as it was very plain that his sympathies were with his 
oppressed country. In October, 1770, the Massachusetts As- 
sembly elected him the agent of the Colony. " The difficult 
service demanded of him by the Colony of his nativity was 
rendered with exemplary fidelity and disinterestedness, amidst 
embarrassments of all kinds." 

Three years later Franklin's fidelity to his trust cost him a 
sharp and painful trial. He was most energetic in his efforts to 
turn the British Government from its suicidal course respecting 
America. In the autumn of 1772, a member of Parliament in- 
formed him that his opposition to the policy of the Govern- 
ment was very strange, because every " measure and every 
grievance complained of took their rise, not from the British 
Government, but were projected, proposed to the Administra- 
tion, solicited and obtained by some of the most respectable 
among the Americans themselves, as necessary for the welfare 
of that country." Franklin was naturally incredulous, and 
the member obtained the letters written by Hutchinson, the 
Governor, Oliver, the Chief Justice, of Massachusetts, and 
others, urging coercion as the only means of dealing with the 
Americans. Franklin gave his word not to name the parties 
from whom the letters were conveyed to him. He was author- 
ized to send them to America, to be submitted there to the 
Corresponding Committee of the Massachusetts Assembly, and 
such others as the Chairman of that Committee might think 
proper. A perusal of these documents showed Franklin that 
nearly all the arbitrary measures of the British Government 
had been suggested by Hutchinson and his colleagues. He at 
once forwarded the correspondence in an official letter to the 
Speaker of the Massachusetts Assembly, in which he publicly 
accused Hutchinson and the others of attempting to betray the 
liberties of America. He concealed nothing but the source 
from which he had obtained the letters. 

The letters were read in the Assembly in secret session, and 
the House requested the Governor to furnish copies of them. 
Hutchinson's reply was taken by the House as permission to 
publish the originals. The letters were thereupon printed and 
circulated throughout the Colonies. They raised a storm of 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 3II 

indignation before which Hutchinson quailed. Both Houses 
of the General Court, by a unanimous vote, adopted a petition 
to the King praying the removal of Hutchinson and Oliver 
from the Government. The petition was forwarded to Frank- 
lin, who was ordered to present it to the King. 

The petition reached England in December, 1773, and was 
delivered by Franklin to Lord Dartmouth, who promised to 
lay it before the King. The publication of the letters had 
created no little excitement in England. Hutchinson was un- 
wearied in his efforts to screen himself from the just reward of his 
villainy by charging Franklin with having dishonestly obtained 
the correspondence. He had friends and supporters in Eng- 
land, who readily joined in the cry, and the press was employed 
to accuse certain persons of having aided Franklin in his efforts 
to obtain the letters. The Court, which had all along resented 
Franklin's firm defense of his country's liberties, viewed the 
exposure of Hutchinson's treachery to Massachusetts with such 
open disfavor that no one ventured to uphold the act. The 
member of Parliament who had given him the letters refused 
to allow his name to be disclosed ; and to put a stop to the 
quarrels which were growing out of the act, Franklin assumed 
the entire responsibility of the exposure, which every one else 
was anxious to deny. " I alone am the person," said he, "who 
obtained and transmitted to Boston the letters in question." 

This bold assumption drew upon him the rage of the entire 
Court party, which had now an opportunity to punish him for 
his opposition to their unjust treatment of his country. He 
was openly threatened with dismissal from his office, arrest, 
imprisonment at Newgate, and a prosecution for treason 
Even the public sentiment, which had been greatly embittered 
by the refusal of the Americans to allow the tea to be landed, 
turned against him. All this because he had merely done his 
duty in exposing a conspiracy against the liberties of the prov- 
ince of which he was the sworn agent. 

The hearing of the petition was set down for the 29th of Jan- 
uary. On that day Franklin, accompanied by counsel, ap- 
peared before the Privy Council in behalf of the petition 
Hutchinson and Oliver were represented by Mauduit, and by 
Wedderburn, the Solicitor General. The case was opened by 



312 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Dunning and Lee, the counsel of Franklin, who showed the 
cause of the petition, and when they closed, it was the opinion 
of the Council that Hutchinson ought to be removed. Wed- 
derburn, who sought only the favor of the King, adroitly 
changed the issue, and embarked in a denunciation of Frank- 
lin. His speech was a tissue of falsehood and coarse abuse, 
and he so thoroughly aroused the prejudices of the Lords of 
Council, that he was openly encouraged by the laughter and 
plaudits of this body, "which professed to be sitting in 
judgment as the highest Court of Appeal for the Colonies." 
"Meantime the gray-haired Franklin, whom Kant, the noblest 
philosopher of that age, had called the modern Prometheus, 
stood conspicuously erect, confronting his vilifier and the 
Privy Council, compelled to listen while calumny, in the ser- 
vice of lawless force, aimed a death-blow at his honor." As 
he left the chamber, the outraged statesman said to Dr. Priestly, 
who was one of the audience, "I have never been so sensible 
to the power of a good conscience ; for if I had not considered 
the thing for which I have been so much insulted as one of 
the best actions of my life, and what I should certainly do 
again in the same circumstances, I could not have supported 
it." The Royal Government followed up its brutal treatment 
of Franklin by dismissing him from his office of Deputy Post- 
master General for the Colonies. The American postal ser- 
vice "had yielded no revenue till he organized it, and yielded 
none after his dismissal." The King refused to entertain the 
petition of Massachusetts. 

Rising superior to all personal considerations, Franklin de- 
cided to retain his place in England. During his whole 
residence in that country, he had labored earnestly for concili- 
ation, and all the trouble that had occurred had grown out of 
the Government's neglect of his advice. The introduction of 
the Boston Port Bill, and the other measures which accompa- 
nied it, showed him that the crisis was at hand in the contro- 
versy between the Colonies and the Crown. He would make 
one more effort to effect a peaceful settlement, though he had 
little hope of being able to do so. He sincerely desired the 
continuance of the connection between America and Great 
Britain, but only upon terms consistent with the freedom and 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 313 

honor of his country. He was constantly appealed to by 
Lord North and his supporters to know the demands and sen- 
timents of the Americans. He made these so clear that there 
was no excuse for the Ministiy if they failed to understand 
them. He received and presented the petition addressed to 
the King by the Continental Congress' in 1774, which was 
coldly received and thrown aside by the sovereign. His con- 
tinued residence in London was not without personal risk. He 
was regarded by the aristocratic party as one of the most reso- 
lute of the "rebellious Americans," and had no certainty how 
long he might continue to enjoy his liberty. It was believed 
by the Ministry that he had secret instructions to modify 
the conditions proposed by the Congress for reconciliation, and 
Lord Howe undertook to ascertain the extent of his powers. 
"If you will indulge me with your ideas," said Howe, "I may 
be the means of bringing on a good understanding." Tears 
of joy started from Franklin's eyes at this prospect of a settle- 
ment. "With firmness, candor, and strict fidelity to Congress, 
he explained the measures by which alone tranquility could 
be restored. * * The repeal of the acts complained of; 
the removal of the fleet and the troops from Boston ; and a 
voluntary recall of some oppressive measures which the Col- 
onists had passed over in silence ; leaving the questions which 
related to aids, general commerce, and reparation to the India 
Company, to be arranged at the next general Congress." 
Nothing came of this interview. The offers of Congress were 
rejected, and the British Government proceeded to drive the 
Colonies into armed resistance. 

Franklin continued to labor in behalf of an equitable settle- 
ment, long after the harsh treatment of Massachusetts, the 
military occupation of Boston, the closing of that port and 
other repressive measures had destroyed in his breast all hope 
of a peaceful adjustment. Lord North shrank from carrying 
out measures from which his better nature revolted, and vainly 
sought to draw Franklin into a compromise. The American 
knew that his countrymen would not abate their claims. In 
February, 1775, he said to the agents of Lord North, "While 
Parliament c;laims the right of altering American constitutions 
at pleasure, there can be no agreement, for we are rendered 



314 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

unsafe in every privilege." "An agreement is necessary for 
America," said the agents of the Prime Minister ; "it is so 
easy for Britain to burn all your seaport towns." "My little 
property," said Franklin calmly, " consists of houses in those 
towns. You may make bonfires of them whenever you please; 
the fear of losing them will never alter my resolution to resist 
to the last the claim of Parliament." 

At last, satisfied that he could no longer serve his country in 
England, and that his presence was now needed in America, 
he determined to go home. He passed a large part of his last 
day in London with Edmund Burke, and in his conversation 
with him sincerely lamented the approaching separation of 
America from England, which he saw was inevitable. "Burke 
revered Franklin to the last, foretold the steady brightening of 
his fame, and drew from his integrity the pleasing hope of ulti- 
mate peace." Hastening to Portsmouth, he embarked on the 
2 1st of March for Philadelphia, and was at sea before his de- 
parture from London was known. He reached Philadelphia 
early in May, 1775, and was met by the news that the war he 
had so long foreseen, and had labored so anxiously to avert, 
had begun. He was received with the honors due to his fame 
and services, and the day after his arrival was elected by the 
Assembly a delegate from Pennsylvania to the Continental 
Congress. 

He was a most valuable and timely acquisition to that body, 
which was deluding itself with the vain hope that an honorable 
settlement might even yet be effected. He knew, no man bet- 
ter, that every means of peaceful entreaty had been exhausted ; 
that the British Ministry had deliberately chosen its part, and 
that America must choose between armed resistance and inde- 
pendence and abject submission and slavery. He was decided 
in his opinions and frank in expressing them ; yet he made no 
effort to hasten the decision of Congress, " wishing rather to 
leave that body to pursue its own plans, unbiased by his com- 
plaints or persuasions. Yet he never hesitated to support the 
boldest measures, and to reprove irresoluteness and delay." 
He saw that independence was certain, and he wished it to 
come as " the spontaneous action of a united people." The 
resolution and steadiness shown by the troops at Bunker Hill 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 315 

removed his last fear. " Americans will fight," he wrote to his 
friends in London ; " England has lost her Colonies forever." 
He warmly approved the plan of Samu^ Adams for a confeder- 
ation of the Colonies. " If none of the rest will join," said 
Adams, " I will endeavor to unite the New England Colonies 
in confederating." " I approve your proposal," said Franklin, 
" and if you succeed, I will cast in my lot among you." He 
formed one of the Committee sent by Congress in October, 
1775, to induce the troops before Boston to continue their en- 
listments. His mission was successful, and his presence was 
hailed with delight by the army. 

Franklin earnestly supported the proposition for a Declara- 
tion of Independence, and was placed on the Committee 
appointed to prepare that instrument. He sustained it in Con- 
gress, voted for it, and affixed his signature to it on the 4th of 
July, 1776. 

He was one of the Committee appointed by Congress to 
confer with Lord Howe. The meeting took place on the i ith 
of September, 1776, but it resulted only in making plainer the 
determination of the Ministry to subjugate America. 

In July, 1776, Dr. Franklin was called upon to preside over 
the Convention which met to organize a government for the 
State of Pennsylvania. His influence over the Convention in- 
duced that body to adopt his favorite theory of a plural execu- 
tive ; but the subsequent experience of the State compelled it 
to abandon it, and substitute a single governor. 

Franklin had believed from the first that it would be neces- 
sary for the United States to seek the assistance of some for- 
eign power. He turned to Holland, as the natural enemy of 
Great Britain, and as the power whose own example of success- 
ful resistance was calculated to afford the greatest encourage- 
ment to America. In the winter of 1775, with the approval of 
Congress, he opened a correspondence with that country, 
which he conducted with great ability and judgment. By the 
close of the year 1776, the affairs of America had assumed so 
desperate a condition that Congress resolved to make an ap- 
peal to France for aid. It was well known that the French 
Government desired the separation of America from Britain as 
the best means of crippling the latter, and secret hopes of assist- 



3l6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ance had already been held out to Congress. Franklin was 
regarded as of all others the man best fitted for the difficult task 
of sustaining the American cause abroad, and was appointed by 
Congress Commissioner Plenipotentiary to the Court of France. 
He was nearly seventy-one years old, and had reached a time 
of life when most men are anxious lay aside the cares and toils 
of the world. He did not hesitate to accept the appointment ; 
he regarded his life, his fortune, all that he possessed as his 
country's, and was willing that she should use him and them 
as she thought best. Silas Deane and Arthur Lee were associ- 
ated with him as Commissioners. 

Franklin soon made his preparations for his voyage, and 
before setting out deposited in the hands of Congress all the 
money he could raise, amounting to between three and four 
thousand pounds, as his contribution towards the expenses of 
the contest, and as an example to his countrymen. In Octo- 
ber, 1776, he set sail in the privateer " Reprisal." The voyage 
consumed thirty days, and was very stormy; the ship was 
several times chased by British cruisers, and captured two 
British brigantines as prizes. On the 7th of December the 
Reprisal entered the port of Nantes, and landed her illustrious 
passenger. 

The news of Franklin's arrival in France took all Europe 
by surprise. No notice of his intended voyage had preceded 
him, and no one knew the nature of his mission. It was ru- 
mored in England that he had given up the struggle in despair, 
and had sought safety in France. Edmund Burke indignantly 
denounced the report. " I will never believe," he said, " that 
he is going to conclude a long life, which has brightened every 
hour it has continued, with so foul and dishonorable a flight." 
Franklin remained for a week or two at the residence of a 
friend near Nantes, resting from the fatigues of his voyage, 
and during this period curiosity respecting the object of his 
visit was at its height. He declared that, in spite of their re- 
verses, his countrymen were firm in their determination to 
continue the war, and that they would persevere until inde- 
pendence crowned their efforts. These sayings were repeated 
enthusiastically by the French, who had for sometime been 
apprehensive of the effect of their disasters upon the patriots. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 31/ 

On the 2 1st of December Franklin reached Paris. With 
characteristic good sense he forbore to embarrass the French 
Court by assuming a public character at first, and for the time 
appeared to give himself up to pursuits congenial to his tastes. 
His welcome was cordial and gratifying from all classes. His 
fame as a philosopher, his genial disposition, his easy and dig- 
nified manners, his simple attire, and his habit of wearing his 
straight, thin, gray hair without powder, made him a marked 
man even in the brilliant society of the French capital. " The 
venerable impersonation of the republics of antiquity seemed 
to have come to accept the homage of the gay capital." He 
was overwhelmed with attentions from the learned, the no- 
bility, and the common people. He became the most popular 
man in Paris, and the cordial friendship which the French 
people conceived for him went beyond him, and embraced also 
the cause for which he had come to 'f)lead. It became fashion- 
able to sympathize with the "insurgents," as the Americans 
were called by the French, and those Frenchmen who had 
begun already to dream of liberty declared that the cause of 
America was the cause of France, since it was the cause of all 
mankind. 

On the morning of the 28th of December, the three Com- 
missioners waited, by appointment, upon the Count de Ver- 
gennes, the Prime Minister. He assured them of the sympa- 
thy of France with their cause, and held out a hope that active 
aid would be extended to the States at the proper time. He 
desired that their intercourse might be strictly secret for the 
present, but added that, as France and Spain were perfectly in 
accord, they might communicate with the Spanish Ambassa- 
dor. The next day the Commissioners had an interview with 
the Count de Aranda, the Spanish Ambassador. The Count 
hated England most bitterly, and warmly approved of active 
measures in favor of the Americans, but his views were un- 
heeded at Madrid. Franklin's sagacity comprehended the 
whole matter, and he viewed, with no favor, the departure o^ 
Arthur Lee, early in 1777, for Madrid. 

The confidence inspired by Franklin soon induced the 
French Government to grant substantial aid to the Commis- 
sioners. On the 1 6th of January the sum of half a million of 



3l8 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

livres was paid to the bankers of the Commissioners, and was 
expend*ed by the latter in fitting out ships loaded with military 
supplies for America. A similar sum was paid quarterly to 
the Commissioners, and applied in the same way. These ad- 
vances Congress was to return in shipments of tobacco and 
other American produce. Still the French Court acted with 
reserve and discretion. American privateers were permitted 
to bring their prizes into the ports of the kingdom, and ves- 
sels were allowed to depart constantly with supplies for the 
American army. The Government ardently wished the dis- 
memberment of the British empire, but it shrank from going 
to war with its old enemy in this cause. The American cause 
seemed too hopeless yet, and open assistance could not be given 
until it was plain that Great Britain could never recover her 
Colonies. 

Meantime Franklin, while continuing his secret intercourse 
with Vergennes, devoted himself to the society of learned 
men, and to scientific pursuits. The attention which was paid 
him and the popularity he enjoyed, gratified him very much, 
but did not change "the even tenor of his way." The sterling 
virtues of his character, as they became better known, deep- 
ened his hold upon the French, and confirmed their attach- 
ment to him. 

In a short while came the news of the brilliant victories of 
Trenton and Princeton. It was received with delight in France, 
and Washington was extolled as the American Fabius. " No- 
thing," said the Count de Vergennes, -later on, "has struck me 
so much as General Washington's attacking and giving battle 
to General Howe's army. To bring troops raised within the 
year to this, promises everything." Early in December the 
news of the capture of Burgoyne and his army reached Paris, 
and threw that city into transports of joy. Together with the 
evidences of the determination of the British Government to 
hold out the olive branch to the Americans, this success put 
an end to the hesitation of the French Court. The Ameri- 
cans had shown themselves fully able to maintain their posi- 
tion, and if France was to help them at all, she must do so at 
once. On the I2th of December, 1777, the American Com- 
missioners had an interview with the Count de Vergennes, and 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 3I9 

were informed by hirs that the King of France had concluded 
to acknowledge and support the independence of the United 
States. On the 6th of February, 1778, a treaty of friendship 
and commerce, and a second treaty of defensive alliance, were 
concluded between the King of France and the United States. 

While the British Government was laboring under the em- 
barrassment of proposing conciliatory measures to the Ameri- 
cans, Franklin, in this same month of February, won another 
triumph for his country in gaining for it the powerful sympathy 
of Voltaire, and so "placed the public opinion of philosophi- 
cal France conspicuously on the side of America. No man 
of that century so embodied the idea of toleration as Voltaire; 
for fame he was unequalled among living men of letters; for 
great age he was venerable; he, more than Louis the Sixteenth, 
more than the cabinet of the King, represented France of that 
day; and now he was come up to Paris, bent with years, to 
receive before his death the homage of the people. Wide 
indeed was the difference between him and America. ' I have 
done more in my day than Luther or Calvin,' was his boast; 
and America, which was reverently Protestant, and through 
Protestantism established not the toleration, but the equality 
of all churches and opinions, did not count him among her 
teachers. He had given out that if there was not a God, it 
would be necessary to invent him; and America held that any 
god of man's invention is an idol ; that God must be worshiped 
in truth as well as in spirit. But for the moment America and 
Voltaire were on one side; and before he had been a week in 
Paris, Franklin claimed leave to wait upon him. We have 
Voltaire's own account of the interview. Franklin bade his 
grandson demand the benediction of the more than octoge- 
narian, and in the presence of more than twenty persons, he 
gave it in these words : ' God and Liberty !' Everywhere 
Voltaire appeared as the friend of America." 

On the 20th of March, 1778, the American Commissioners 
were presented to the King at Versailles, The colleagues of 
Franklin appeared in the elaborate court dress of the day, but 
the philosopher was clad in a plain dress coat of Manchester 
velvet, with white stockings, and a round white hat under his 
arm, his spectacles on his nose, and his thin gray hair in its 



320 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

natural state. The courtiers hailed him with delight, but the 
King, who regarded his assistance to America as a wrong done 
to the cause of monarchy, and had consented to it only in 
deference to the judgment of his ministers, was merely polite 
to the Commissioners. At heart he resented the influence exer- 
cised by Franklin upon his people, and the praises showered 
upon the philosopher fretted him and provoked him to out- 
bursts of peevishness. 

" The official conduct of Franklin and his intercourse with 
persons of the highest rank," says Bancroft, " were marked by 
the most delicate propriety, as well as by perfect self respect. 
His charm was simplicity, which gave grace to his style and 
ease to his manners. No life-long courtier could have been 
more free from vulgarity ; no diplomatist more true to his 
position as minister of a republic ; no laborer more consistent 
with his former life as a working man ; and thus he won re- 
spect and love from all. When a celebrated case was to be 
heard before the Parliament of Paris, the throng which filled 
the house and its approaches opened a way on his appearance, 
and he passed through to the seat reserved for him amidst the 
acclamations of the people. At the opera, at the theatre, simi- 
lar honors were paid to him. * * * Throughout Europe there 
was scarcely a citizen or a peasant of any culture who was not 
familiar with his name, and who did not consider him as a 
friend to all men. At the academy D'Alembert addressed 
him as the man who had wrenched the thunderbolt from the 
clould, the sceptre from tyrants ; and both these ideas were of 
a nature to pass easily into the common mind. From the part 
which he had taken in the emancipation of America, imagin- 
ation transfigured him as the man who had separated the Colo- 
nies from Great Britain, had framed their best constitutions of 
government, and by counsel and example would show how to 
abolish all political evil throughout the world. Malesherbes 
spoke of the excellence of the institutions that permitted a 
printer, the son of a tallow chandler, to act a great part in 
public affairs ; and if Malesherbes reasoned so, how much more 
the workmen of Paris and the people. Thus Franklin was the 
venerable impersonation of democracy, yet so calmly decorous, 
so free from a disposition to quarrel with the convictions of 



BEN"JAMIN FRANKLIN. 321 

others, that, while he was the dehcrht of free-thinking philoso- 
phers, he escaped the hatred of the clergy, and his presence ex- 
cited no jealousy in the old nobility, though sometimes a 
woman of rank might find fault with his hands and skin, which 
toiled had imbrowned. * * * He conciliated the most opposite 
natures ; yet not for himself Whatever favor he met in so- 
ciety, whatever honor he received from the Academy, whatever 
respect he gained as a man of science, whatever distinction 
came to him through the good will of the people, whatever 
fame he acquired throughout Europe, he turned all to account 
for the good of his country." 

On the 14th of September, 1778, Congress, tired of the quar- 
rels of the rival Commissioners, abolished the joint commission 
of which Franklin had been a member, and appointed him sole 
minister plenipotentiary at the court of France. In this capac- 
ity he served the country with ability throughout the remain- 
der of the war, keeping a watchful eye upon the designs of 
Spain, and upholding the dignity and honor of his own coun- 
try. Towards the close of the war Mr. Jay, the unrecognized 
minister to Spain, Mr. Adams, the minister to Holland, and 
Henry Laurens, just released from the Tower of London, were 
appointed with Franklin commissioners to negotiate a peace 
with Great Britain. 

The growing hostility of the British House of Commons to 
the war, after the fall of Lord North's Ministry, and the strong 
leanings of the administration of the Marquis of Rockingham 
toward peace convinced Franklin that his old friend Lord 
Shelburne must be a member of the new Cabinet. On the 22d 
of March, 1782, he sent a letter to Shelburne, who was the 
Home* Secretary, assuring him of his own undiminished re- 
spect for his talents and virtues, and expressing the hope that 
negotiations for a close of the war might be begun. This let- 
tei led to the opening of negotiations, which were conducted 
on the part of the United States by Franklin, and on the part 
of England by Shelburne, whose department still embraced 
America. The English minister had been one of the earliest 
and firmest friends of America, and was as sincerely desirous 
of peace as Franklin. He was satisfied that the time had 

come for England to accept the results of the war, and knew 
21 



322 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

that peace could be had only upon the basis of the independ- 
ence of the United States. The intermediary between the two 
statesmen was a Mr. Oswald, an able and upright man and a 
friend of Shelburne. The negotiations were conducted satisfac- 
torily for some weeks, and were then interrupted for a time by 
the efforts of Fox, the British Foreign Secretary, to get the 
matter under the control of his department. At this juncture 
the Marquis of Rockingham died, and Shelburne became 
Prime Minister. On the loth of July, he announced in the 
House of Lords his intention to make peace with America. 

The negotiations now went on with great activity. Frank- 
lin stated to Mr. Oswald the conditions which his country 
would not depart from. They were the recognition of the 
absolute independence of the thirteen States, and the with- 
drawal of all the British forces from them ; for boundaries, the 
Mississippi on the west, and on the east the Canada frontier as 
it existed before the Quebec act of 1774 ; and the freedom of 
fishing off Newfoundland, as before the war. The British con- 
ditions included the payment by the Americans of the debts 
due by them to British merchants, and the compensation of the 
American loyalists for the seizure of their property by the 
American authorities. Franklin was not disposed to grant 
either of these demands, and would have carried his point had 
he been sustained by his colleagues ; but Jay and Adams, who 
arrived in Paris near the close of the negotiation, were in favor 
of paying the debts contracted before the war, and Franklin 
finally submitted to their decision. Franklin was more dis- 
posed than his colleagues to trust to the friendship of France, 
but was as much determined as either to conduct the negotia- 
tions directly with Great Britain, and independent 6f the 
French Government. The progress of the negotiations was 
not communicated to the Count de Vergennes, and in this res- 
olution Franklin and Jay were supported by Mr. Adams upon 
his arrival at Paris. The leading spirit in the negotiation was 
Franklin. He was firm in his determination to exclude Spain, 
who wished to use America simply to gain her own ends, alto- 
gether from the conferences. His general policy was sustained 
by Adams and Jay, and by Mr. Laurens, who came in at the 
last moment, and on the 30th of November, 1782, the prelimi- 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 323 

nary treaty of peace was signed by the commissioners of the 
United States and Great Britain. It was made conditional upon 
a pacification between Great Britain and France. This condi- 
tion was soon fulfilled by the treaty between the European 
parties to the war, and the final Treaty of Peace was signed 
between the United States, France, Spain, and Holland, and 
Great Britain, on the 30th of September, 1783. 

The war was over, and the great objects for which it had 
been waged were successfully attained. To this great end none 
had contributed in a more marked degree than Franklin. "My 
friend," said he, in his simple, straight-forward way to the 
Duke of Rochefoucauld, who congratulated him upon the con- 
clusion of the preliminary treaty, "could I have hoped, at such 
an age, to have enjoyed so great a happiness?" 

Franklin was now anxious to return to America. His great 
age and his faithful service entitled him to a season of rest, 
and now that his country had emerged safely from her trials, 
he was anxious to withdraw to the peaceful retirement of his 
own home. He therefore requested Congress to appoint his suc- 
cessor. Congress answered him by appointing him a member 
of the Commission, which included John Adams and Thomas 
Jefferson, to negotiate treaties of commerce with the European 
powers. He devoted himself with great industry to this task, 
and at the same time renewed his request for a recall. Con- 
gress at length granted it, and on the loth of March, 1785, 
appointed Thomas Jefferson his successor as Minister to France. 

Franklin at once prepared to return home. The news of his 
intended departure was received with deep regret by the na- 
tion which had become so much attached to him. On the 12th 
of July the venerable statesman set out from Passy, where he 
had resided for some years, on his homeward journey. All 
the village assembled to bid the noble old man farewell, and 
to these were added a considerable number of his friends from 
Paris. When Franklin emerged from the house to enter the 
traveling litter, which the Queen, with a tender consideration 
of his age and infirmities, had sent to convey him to Havre, 
he was received by the assembled throng with an homage as 
touching as it was sincere. With grateful words he uttered his 
farewell, and was assisted into the litter, and began his journey, 



324 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

followed by the benedictions of his friends and neighbors. 
" It seemed," said Mr. Jefferson, who witnessed the scene,." as 
if the village had lost its patriarch." 

Sailing from Havre, Franklin reached Philadelphia in Sep- 
tember, 1785, and was joyfully welcomed by his fellow citizens. 
He was soon after elected President of the Supreme Executive 
Council of Pennsylvania, the chief executive office of the State. 
He was twice re-elected, his last term expiring in October, 
1788. He was a delegate to the Federal Convention of 1787, 
which framed the Constitution of the United States. He did 
not altogether approve that instrument, but when he found the 
Convention in favor of its adoption, he decided to sign it, say- 
ing to his colleagues, " We ought to have but one opinion ; the 
good of our country requires that the resolution should be 
unanimous." 

After his withdrawal from office in 1788, he passed the brief 
remainder of his life in retirement. His family had been 
broken up by death and by the war. His wife had died some 
years before, and his only son, who had been the last royalist 
governor of New Jersey, had adhered to the cause of the King 
during the Revolution, and was now in England. His remain- 
ing child, a daughter, married a Mr. Bache of Philadelphia. 
Her descendants still reside in that city. 

On the 17th of April, 1790, the venerable statesman and 
philosopher died at Philadelphia, at the age of eighty-four years 
and three months. Four days later he was interred with pub- 
lic honors in the northwest corner of Christ churchyard. His 
grave is marked by a simple slab of marble, bearing the names 
of himself and his wife. 

The death of Dr. Franklin was deeply lamented on both sides 
of the Atlantic. Congress ordered a general mourning for him 
throughout the Union for one month. Funeral orations were 
pronounced in Paris by order of the municipality. The Na- 
tional Assembly listened to an eloquent eulogy upon his vir- 
tues, and ordered that its members should wear mourning for 
three days, " in commemoration of the event." It was decreed 
also by the Assembly that a letter of condolence for the irre- 
parable loss sustained by the United States should be addressed 
to Congress — an honor never before paid by France to the 
memory of a citizen of a foreign country. 




GENERAL FRANCIS MARION. 



FRANCIS MARION. 

AT the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, Gabriel and Louise 
Marion, a newly married pair, were residing upon their 
own farm near Rochelle. They were Huguenots of the most 
uncompromising kind, and no sooner had the Edict been 
repealed than the husband was warned by the Bishop of the 
diocese to leave France within ten days, on pain of being pun- 
ished as a heretic. Converting his property into cash, he fled 
with his wife to America. Settling in South Carolina, he pur- 
cased a plantation at Winyah, near Georgetown. By his indus- 
try and energy he soon built up a comfortable home. His wife 
bore him several children, the eldest of which was named 
Gabriel also. This son married a Miss Charlotte Cord^, and 
by her had six children, all of whom were born on the family 
estate at Winyah. 

Francis Marion, the youngest of these, was born at Win- 
yah in the year 1732. His boyhood was passed on the plan- 
tation, and his education was limited. He manifested such a 
strong desire to become a sailor that at the age of sixteen he 
was permitted to ship before the mast on board a vessel bound 
for the West Indies. The vessel was capsized in a gale, and 
the crew took to the boat for safety without either food or 
water. A dog swam off from the vessel and was taken into the 
boat. He was killed, and his raw flesh furnished the crew with 
food for seven days, during which all but Marion died of thirst. 
The boy was rescued by a passing vessel, and soon returned 
home completely cured of his desire to be a sailor. He now 
devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, and grew up a planter 
as his father and grandfather had been. 

In 1759, being then twenty-seven years old, he accepted a 
lieutenant's commission in a company organized for service 
against the Cherokees. His captain was William Moultrie, 
afterwards a general of the Revolution. The troops in this 
campaign were commanded by Governor Lyttleton. This ex- 

325 



326 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

pedition was followed in 1761 by an invasion of the Cherokee 
country by a force under Colonel Grant. Marion served in this 
force as a captain. Grant ravaged the Indian country with 
merciless severity, and Marion's tender sympathies were 
warmly aroused for the savages. At the close of the campaign 
the troops were disbanded, and Marion returned to his planta- 
tion. 

During the controversy between the Colonies and England 
which preceded the Revolution, Marion's sympathies were 
with his native country. When the legislature of South Caro- 
lina, in the spring of 1775, ordered two regiments to be raised, 
Marion was among the first to volunteer. He was unani- 
mously chosen a captain in the second regiment, which was 
commanded by Col. Moultrie. His friend and biographer, 
Gen. Horry, says that his election was due to his popularity, 
"for though he was neither handsome, nor witty, nor wealthy, 
he was universally beloved." He was soon made major of the 
regiment, which, in the spring of 1776, was sent to Sullivan's 
Island and ordered to fortify it. In obedience to these orders 
a strong fort was constructed of palmetto logs, armed with 
heavy guns, and was named Fort Moultrie, in honor of its 
commander. On the 2d of June, 1776, the fort was attacked 
by the British fleet under Sir Peter Parker, and after a stubborn 
fight repulsed it. Marion was greatly distinguished by his 
good conduct upon this occasion, and was soon after made 
Lieutenant Colonel of his regiment, in which capacity he took 
part in the unfortunate attack upon Savannah by the combined 
American and French forces under General Lincoln and the 
Count D'Estaing, in September, 1779. 

Shortly before the investment of Charleston by the British 
forces. Colonel Marion was dining at the house of a friend in 
that city. The party at table were drinking so deeply that the 
Colonel found himself in a fair way to become intoxicated. He 
determined to withdraw, but his friends would not hear of such 
a thing. There was but one way to escape, and that was Dy 
leaping from the window of the room, which was in the second 
story of the house. Without a moment's hesitation Marion 
threw up the sash and sprang to the ground, and in so doing 
fractured his ankle. He was very much laughed at, but the 



FRANCIS MARION. 32/ 

accident proved of the greatest benefit to him. Being unfit for 
duty, he was allowed to retire to his plantation to recover, and 
during his confinement to his house Charleston was reduced 
by Sir Henry Clinton. The broken ankle alone saved Marion 
from sharing the captivity of the garrison. 

The capture of Charleston was followed by the rapid subju- 
gation of South Carolina. The State was overrun by the 
British, who established a number of fortified posts within its 
limits. Tarleton swept rapidly over the State with his splendid 
cavalry, attacking and mercilessly sabring the small bands of 
patriots which he encountered. Clinton issued a proclamation 
threatening to visit the severest punishments upon those who 
refused to submit to the royal authority, and a little later 
offered pardon to all who would return to their allegiance and 
assist in restoring the authority of the King. The measures of 
the British commander were so successful, and South Carolina 
was so completely subjugated, that early in June Sir Henry 
Clinton sailed for New York, leaving Lord Cornwallis to com- 
plete the work of conquest. The country abounded in Tories, 
who rendered active assistance to the British, and large num- 
bers of negroes deserted their masters and went over to the 
enemy. All active opposition on the part of the Americans 
ceased, and the people prepared to make their peace with the 
royal authorities. The patriot cause seemed hopelessly lost in 
South Carolina. 

Matters were in this desperate state when Colonel Marion, 
still suffering from his hurt, set out from his plantation, accom- 
panied by a negro servant, to join the little army collecting in 
North Carolina under DeKalb. On his way he fell in with his 
friend, Colonel Peter Horry, with whom he continued his jour- 
ney. Neither had a farthing in his pocket, but Marion was full 
of hope. " Our happy days are not all gone," he said to his 
friend. " On the contrary the victory is still sure. The enemy, 
it is true, have all the trumps in their hands, and if they had but 
spirit to play a generous game, would certainly ruin us. But they 
have no idea of that game ; but will treat the people cruelly. 
And that one thing imll ruin them and save America!' Reaching 
Hillsborough they were met by the news that Gates was com- 
ing to take command of the army, and would bring reinforce- 



328 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ments and supplies with him. They were presented by a friend 
to the Baron DeKalb, who offered them positions on his staff 
as supernumerary aides-de-camp. 

As Gates prepared to advance upon the enemy, Marion and 
Horry were despatched by him to break up aU the boats on 
the Santee river. Gates, vain of his triumph at Saratoga, never 
learned how little he was responsible for that success, and now 
imagined that an easy victory over Cornvvallis was in store for 
him. In vain DeKalb remonstrated with him upon the folly 
of assuming the offensive with an army so utterly unsuited to 
such a course, and so greatly inferior to the enemy. Gates 
would take no advice from any one, and in his self-conceit im- 
agined his victory sure. His object in sending Marion and 
Horry to break up the boats on the Santee was to destroy 
Cornwallis's means of escaping across that river. 

Marion and his friend set out on the morning of the 15th of 
April, 1780, and that night the army began its advance to- 
wards Camden. They were joined along the route by a number 
of gentlemen who had been driven, as Marion had predicted, 
by the cruelty of the British, to take up arms, and were busily 
engaged in their boat burning, when they were met by an 
uncle of Colonel Horry, who informed them of the disastrous 
defeat of Gates at Camden, and the death of the heroic Baron 
DeKalb. He also warned them that a force of Tories was 
collecting in the neighborhood for the purpose of attacking 
them. 

Without a moment's hesitation Marion ordered the troops 
to move forward at a gallop, and dashed into the swamp. 
Having reached a place of safety, he halted the men, and in 
one of those brief but eloquent appeals for which he was fa- 
mous, informed them of his determination to fight to the bit- 
ter end. " I want to know your minds," he said in conclusion. 
" As to my own, that has long been made up. I consider my 
life as but a moment. But I also consider that to fill that 
moment with duty, is my all. To guard my innocent country 
against the evils of slavery, seems now my greatest duty ; and, 
therefore, I am determined that, while I live, she shall never 
be enslaved. She may come to that wretched state for what I 
know, but my eyes shall never behold it. Nevea shall she 



FRANCIS MARION. 329 

clank her chains in my ears, and pointing to the ignominious 
badge, exclaim, 'it was your cowardice that brought we to this.' " 
With enthusiasm the warm-hearted Carolinians swore they 
would stand by him to the last, and with the same impulse 
declared him their leader. They were thirty in all, men of the 
best families of the State, armed with muskets and swords, 
and well mounted, but almost without powder and ball. Such 
was the origin of the famous " Light Brigade," as true a band 
of heroes as ever drew a sword. 

A rendezvous was appointed at Snow's Island, in the deep 
recesses of the swamps between the Pedee and the Santee. 
It was easily reached by the members of the band, who were 
well acquainted with the mazes of the swamps, but was inac- 
cessible to the enemy and easily defended against them, 
Marion knew that everything depended upon his activity, and 
he had scarcely organized his band when he dealt the enemy 
a sudden and unexpected blow. 

His scouts reported that a British force of ninety men, with 
a large number of American prisoners, was on its way from 
Camden to Charleston, and he resolved to rescue the prisoners. 
He surprised the enemy in a night attack, made prisoners of 
all but three, who were killed, and restored the captive Ameri- 
cans to liberty. He was in hopes that the men whom he had 
rescued would join his band, but to his disgust not a man of 
them was willing to take up arms again. All regarded the 
cause as lost. 

This success enabled Marion to arm his men with the wea- 
pons and equipments taken from the enemy, and to have a 
surplus from which to provide for recruits who might join him. 
A few days later he surprised and captured a company of forty- 
nine Tories, without their firing a shot. Over thirty were 
killed or captured by his men, and the arms, ammunition and 
horses of the whole party fell into his hands. He now pro- 
ceeded to remedy his deficiency in swords by buying up all 
the old saw-blades from the mills, from which the smiths made 
a supply of formidable broad-swords, which did good execu- 
tion upon the enemy. 

The news of these daring exploits astounded the British 
commanders, who had supposed that all resistance was at 



330 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

an end, and as greatly encouraged the patriots, who began to 
take heart. Governor Rutledge sent Marion a commission as 
Brigadier-General in the State forces. Recruits were attracted 
to the brigade by its daring and brilliant exploits, and Marion 
ere long found himself at the head of a force of two hundred 
men. 

From this time Marion's activity was unceasing. One day 
he would deal the enemy a staggering blow in one part of the 
State, and the next day would fall like a thunderbolt upon 
another force of British or Tories in another part of the country, 
miles away from the scene of the former attack. The enemy 
never knew when to expect him, and his movements were so 
secret and rapid that it was useless to attempt to surprise him. 
He seemed to be everywhere, and his men performed prodigies 
of valor. Greatly superior forces were sent against him, but 
were surprised and driven back with heavy loss. A strong 
party under Major Gainey was once sent after him, but was 
routed by an inferior force, and Gainey fled into Georgetown 
with the bayonet of Sergeant Macdonald, of Marion's brigade, 
sticking in his back. Not a week passed without one or more 
encounters between the Light Brigade and the enemy, in 
which success was invariably with the former. Marion's men 
were nearly all members of the better class of Carolinians, and 
were splendidly mounted and well armed, though generally in 
rags and often half starved. As a rule, however, they were 
well fed ; for the patriotic planters kept open house for the 
Light Brigade, and the Tories were forced to contribute liber- 
ally to the commissariat of the brigade. The splendid example 
of Marion caused others to take heart, and armed bands sprang 
up in every quarter of the State. " Colonel Marion," says 
Cornwallis, " so wrought up the minds of the people that there 
was scarcely an inhabitant between the Pedee and the Santee 
that was not in arms against us. Some of the parties even 
crossed the Santee and carried terror to the gates of Charles- 
ton." 

Marion was a man of strong, kindly feelings, of pure morals 
and great humanity. He compelled his men to scrupulously 
respect private property, and no planter ever had cause to com- 
plain of violence or injury at the hands of the Light Brigade. 



FRANCIS MARION. 331 

He never allowed his prisoners to be treated unkindly, and dis- 
countenanced the refusal of his men to give quarter to the Tor- 
ies. His nephew, who was a lieutenant in his command, was 
taken prisoner in a skirmish, and was brutally murdered after 
his capture. Not long afterwards a mulatto fellow was taken 
by Marion's men, and as he was supected of being one of those 
who had murdered the General's nephew, he was shot. Marion 
sternly rebuked the killing of the man. He said " he truly 
lamented the untimely death of his nephew ; and that he had 
been told this poor man was his murderer; but that, as a 
prisoner, his life ought to have been held most sacred — especi- 
ally as the charge against him was without evidence, and, 
perhaps, no better than conjecture. As to my nephew," he 
continued, " I believe he was cruelly murdered ; but living 
virtuously, as he did, and then dying fighting for the rights of 
man, he is no doubt happy ; and this is my comfort." He se- 
verely reprimanded the sergeant of the guard for not having 
killed the man who shot the mulatto. 

Though brave as a lion, full of resources, and the first par- 
tisan officer of his day, Marion was as simple and unpretend- 
ing as a child in his manner and habits. He was enthusiasti- 
cally beloved by his men, who willingly followed wherever he 
chose to lead. He was prudent as well as daring, and was 
exceedingly careful of his men. 

General Horry relates the following anecdote, which shows 
the character of the patriot soldier in its happiest light: "About 
this time we received a flag of truce from the enemy in George- 
town ; the object of which was to make some arrangements 
about the exchange of prisoners. The flag, after the usual 
ceremony of blindfolding, was conducted into Marion's en- 
campment. Having heard great talk about General Marion, 
his fancy had, naturally enough, sketched out for him some 
stout figure of a warrior, such as O'Hara or Cornwallis him- 
self, of martial aspect and flaming regimentals. But what was 
his surprise when led into Marion's presence, and the bandage 
was taken from his eyes, he beheld in our hero a swarthy, 
smoke-dried little man, with scarce enough of threadbare home- 
spun to cover his nakedness; and in place of tall ranks of 
gaily dressed soldiers, a handful of sunburnt, yellow-legged 



332 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

militia men ; some roasting potatoes, and some asleep with 
their black firelocks and powder-horns lying by them on the 
logs. Having recovered a little fi^om his surprise, he presented 
his letter to General Marion, who perused it, and soon settled 
everything to his satisfaction. The officer took up his hat to 
retire. 

" ' Oh no !' said Marion ; ' it is now about our time of dining ; 
and I hope, sir, you will give us the pleasure of your company 
to dinner.' 

"At mention of the word dinner, the British officer looked 
around him; but to his great mortification, could see no sign 
of a pot, pan, Dutch oven, or any other cooking utensil that 
could raise the spirits of a hungry man. 

'"Well, Tom,' said the General to one of his men, 'come, 
give us our dinner.' 

"The dinner to which he alluded was no other than a heap 
of sweet potatoes that were very snugly roasting under the 
embers, and which Tom, with his pine-stick poker, soon liber- 
ated from their ashy confinement; pinching them every now 
and then with his fingers, especially the big ones, to see whether 
they were well done or not. Then having cleansed off the 
ashes, partly by blowing them with his breath, and partly by 
brushing them with the sleeve of his old cotton shirt, he piled 
some of the best on a large piece of bark, and placed them 
between the British officer and Marion, on the trunk of the 
fallen pine on which they sat. 

" ' I fear, sir,' said the general, ' our dinner will not prove so 
palatable to you as I could wish ; but it is the best we have.' 

" The officer, who was a well-bred man, took up one of the 
potatoes and affected to feed, as if he had found a great dainty ; 
but it was very plain that he ate more from good manners than 
good appetite. Presently he broke out into a hearty laugh. 
Marion looked surprised. ' I beg your pardon. General,' said 
he ; ' but one cannot, you know, always command his conceits. 
I was thinking how drolly some of my brother officers would 
look if our government were to give them such a bill of fare 
as this.' 

" ' I suppose,' said Marion, ' it is not equal to theis style of 
dining-.' 



FRANCIS MARION. 333 

" ' No, indeed,' quoth the officer ; ' and this, I imagine, is one 
of your accidental Lent dinners ; a sort of ban yan. In general, 
no doubt, you live a great deal better.' 

" ' Rather worse,' answered the General ; ' for often we don't 
get enough of this.' 

" ' Heavens !' rejoined the officer. ' But, probably, what you 
lose in vical you make up in malt ; though stinted in provis- 
ions, you draw noble pay.' 

" ' Not a cent, sir,' said Marion ; ' not a cent.' 

" ' Heavens and earth ! then you must be in a bad box. I 
don't see, General, how you can stand it' 

" ' Why, sir,' replied Marion, with a smile of self approbation, 
* these things depend on feeling.' 

" The Englishman said he ' did not believe it would be 
an easy matter to reconcile his feelings to a soldier's life on 
General Marion's terms — all fighting and no pay, and no pro- 
visions but potatoes.' 

" * Why, sir,' answered the General, ' the heart is all ; and, 
when that is much interested, a man can do anything. Many a 
youth would think it hard to indent himself a slave for fourteen 
years. But let him be over head and ears in love, and with 
such a beauteous sweetheart as Rachel, and he will think no 
more of fourteen years of servitude than Jacob did. Well, now, 
this is exactly my case. I am in love, and my sweetheart is 
Liberty. Be that heavenly nymph my companion, and these 
wilds and woods shall have charms beyond London and Paris 
in slavery. To have no proud monarch driving over me with 
his gilt coaches ; nor his host of excisemen and tax gatherers 
insulting and robbing me; but to be my own master, my own 
prince and sovereign, gloriously preserving my national dig- 
nity, and pursuing my true happiness ; planting my vineyards 
and eating their luscious fruits ; and sowing my fields, and 
reaping the golden grain ; and seeing millions of brothers all 
around me, equally free and happy as myself This, sir, i.« 
what I long for.' 

"The officer replied, that both as a man and a Briton, he 
must certainly subscribe to this as a happy state of things. 

"'Happy,' quoth Marion; 'yes, happy indeed; and I had 
rather fight for such blessings for my country, and feed on 



334 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

roots, than keep aloof, though wallowing in all the luxuries of 
Solomon. For now, sir, I walk the soil that gave me birth, 
and exult in the thought that I am not unworthy of it. I look 
upon these venerable trees around me, and feel that I do not 
dishonor them. I think of my own sacred rights, and rejoice 
that I have not basely deserted them. And when I look for- 
ward to the long ages of posterity, I glory in the thought that 
I am fighting their battles. The children of distant genera- 
tions may never hear my name ; but still it gladdens my heart 
to think that I am now contending for their freedom, and all 
its countless blessings.' 

" I looked at Marion as he uttered these sentiments, and 
fancied I felt as when I heard the last words of the brave 
DeKalb. The Englishman hung his honest head, and looked, 
I thought, as if he had seen the upbraiding ghosts of his illus- 
trious countrymen, Sidney and Hampden. 

"On his return to Georgetown, he was asked by Colonel 
Watson why he looked so serious. 

*"I have cause, sir,' said he, 'to look serious.' 

"'What! has General Marion refused to treat?' 

"'No, sir.' 

"'Well, then, has old Washington defeated Sir Henry Clin- 
ton, and broken up our army?' 

'"No, sir, not that, neither; but worse.' 

"'Ah ! what can be worse?' 

'"Why, sir, I have seen an American general and his offi- 
cers, without pay, and almost without clothes, living on roots 
and drinking water ; and all for Liberty. What chance can 
we have against such men?' 

" It is said Colonel Watson was not much obliged to him 
for this speech. But the young officer was so much struck 
with Marion's sentiments, that he never rested until he threw 
up his commission and retired from the service." 

Marion was very successful in his management of the mili- 
tia, who often acted with him. His plan is thus stated by 
himself: " It will not do to expect too much from that sort of 
soldiers. If on turning out against the enemy you find your 
men in high spirits, with burning eyes ^11 kindling around you, 
that's your time ; then in close columns, with sounding bugles 



FRANCIS MARION. 335 

and shining swords, dash on, and I'll warrant your men will 
follow you. * * But on the other hand, if by any unlooked 
for providence they get dismayed, and begin to run, you are 
not to fly in a passion with them, and show yourself as mad 
as they are cowardly. No ! you must learn to run, too ; and 
as fast as they; noy, faster, that you may get into the front 
and encourage them to rally." 

While he was firm in his management of his men, and re- 
quired and received prompt and perfect obedience to his orders, 
he rarely resorted to the rigors of military discipline. He 
trusted chiefly to the sense of honor of the troops, and did not 
trust in vain. He made no effort to recover or punish desert- 
ers. Those who wished to leave the brigade were free to do 
so at any time, and their punishment lay in the contempt with 
which they were regarded by all good men. 

Marion gave to General Greene his hearty cooperation, and 
rendered good service to the main army by keeping it informed 
of the movements of the enemy and cutting off" the supplies 
of the British. 

In the spring of 1781, Marion was reinforced by Lee's Le- 
gion of Light Horse, and the combined force laid siege to and 
captured the strong fort at Wright's Bluff, the principal British 
post on the Santee, garrisoned by 120 men. "The Americans 
were without cannon, and the bluff" was forty feet high ; but 
the forest stretched all around them ; in the night the troops 
cut and hauled logs, and erected a tower so high that the gar- 
rison could be picked off by riflemen." The fort capitulated 
on the 26th of April. This success was followed by the cap- 
ture of Fort Motte by Marion and Lee, on the nth of May. 
Fort Motte was a work of considerable strength, erected on 
the plantation of Mrs. Rebecca Motte, a widow. The fine 
mansion of this lady stood in the midst of the British works, 
and was used by them as their quarters, Mrs. Motte and her 
family having been turned out of their home into one of the 
negro cabins of the plantation. Marion saw that he could 
compel the surrender of the garrison by setting fire to the 
house, but he hesitated to inflict such a loss upon his coun- 
trywoman. Upon learning this, Mrs. Motte hastened to him 
and begged him to carry out his plan. " Burn it, burn it. 



336 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

General Marion," she exclaimed. " God forbid that I should 
bestow a thought on my little concerns, when the independ- 
ence of my country is at stake. No, sir, if it were a palace it 
should go." She then handed him a bow and arrow which 
had been brought from Africa and presented to her, saying to 
him, " Here, General, is what will serve your purpose to a 
hair." The arrows were tipped with iron points, and to them 
pieces of tow dipped in turpentine were fastened. They were 
then discharged at the roof, to which they stuck, and quickly 
set it afire. The guns of the Americans prevented all efforts 
to extinguish the flames, and the garrison, between two and 
three hundred in number, at once surrendered. Marion now 
attacked the British at Georgetown, and about the middle of 
May compelled them to evacuate that place and retreat to 
Charleston. The Light Brigade also took part in the bloody 
battle of Eutaw Springs, and won the warm praise of General 
Greene by its splendid conduct. 

After the close of the war Marion retired to his plantation, 
but his countrymen would not let him withdraw entirely from 
their service. He was elected to the Legislature of South 
Carolina by the unanimous vote of his fellow citizens. His in- 
fluence in that body was very great. He opposed the measures 
for the confiscation of the estates of the Tories, declaring that 
all hostility should cease with the war, and that the people of 
the State should cultivate friendly relations with each other. 
" We ought to remember," he said, " that God has given us the 
victory, for which we owe Him eternal gratitude. But cruelty 
to man is not the way to show our gratitude to Heaven." 

Soon after the passage of the Confiscation Act, he was dining 
with Governor Matthews and a large and brilliant company. 
" Come, General," said the Governor, " give us a toast." " Will- 
ingly," said Marion, smiling ; and raising his glass, while all 
eyes were fixed upon him, he said emphatically, " Gentlemen, 
here's damnation to the Confiscation Act." 

While he was a member of the Legislature, a petition was 
presented, praying for the act to grant a general amnesty to the 
officers and men of the American army for all the arbitrary 
measures they had been obliged to resort to during the war. 
Marion listened attentively to the reading of the petition and 
then rose and said, " He had no manner of objection to the 



FRANCIS MARION. 337 

petition ; on the contrary, he most heartily approved of it, and 
meant to vote for it ; for well did he know that, during the war, 
we had among us a world of ignoramuses, who, for lack of 
knowing their danger, did not care a fig how the war went, but 
were sauntering about in the woods, popping at the squirrels, 
when they ought to have been in the field fighting the British ; 
that such gentlemen, since they did not choose to do anything 
for their country thegiselves, might well afford to let their 
cattle do something; and as they had not shed any of their 
blood in the public service, they might certainly spare a little 
corn to it ; at any rate, he had no notion of turning over to the 
mercy of these poltroons some of the choicest spirits of the 
nation, to be prosecuted and torn to pieces by them ; but that, 
nevertheless, he did not like to have his name to the petition, 
for, thank God, he had no favors to ask of them. And if, dur- 
ing the war for his country, he had done any of them harm, 
there was he, and yonder his property, and let them come for- 
zvard, if they dare, and demand satisfaction^ 

After the war he married Miss Mary Videau, who brought 
him a considerable fortune. The short remnant of his life was 
passed in the happy retirement of his home, and amidst the 
affectionate admiration of his countrymen. 

He was a sincere Christian, inheriting the strong religious 
feelings which had distinguished his Huguenot ancestors. 
When he was once told that the Methodists and Baptists were 
making great progress in South Carolina, he replied, " Thank 
God for that; that is good news." "General," continued his 
friend, " what is the best religion ?" " I know but one religion," 
he answered earnestly, " and that is hearty love of God and 
man. This is the only true religion, and I would to God our 
country was full of it." 

Early in February, 1795, he was seized with his last illness. 
Seeing his wife weeping beside his bed, he said to her tenderly : 
" My dear, weep not for me. I am not afraid to die ; for, thank 
God, I can lay my hand on my heart and say, that since I came to 
man's estate I have never intentionally done wrong to any one." 

They were his last words. Shortly after uttering them " he 
closed his eyes in the sleep of death." 

" As a partisan officer," said General Greene, " the page of 
history never furnished his equal." 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

A LEXANDER HAMILTON was born in the Island of 
tx. Nevis, in the British West Indies, on the i ith of January, 
1757. He was of Scotch descent, and was left an orphan at an 
early age. He was reared by distant relatives, and passed the 
greater part of his childhood and youth in the Danish Island 
of Santa Cruz, where he was educated by the Rev. Mr. Hamil- 
ton, a Presbyterian clergyman. When about twelve years of 
age he was placed in the employment of Mr. Cruger, a mer- 
chant of Santa Cruz, in which position he became noted for his 
quickness and remarkable intelligence in the despatch of busi- 
ness. He had been but a short time in this situation when he 
wrote to a schoolfellow, " I contemn the grovelling condition of 
a clerk, to which my fortune condemns me, and I would will- 
ingly risk my life, though not my character, to exalt my sta- 
tion ; I mean to prepare the way for futurity." 

These were promising words from so young a lad, and he 
meant to make them good. He fully understood the con- 
ditions of success in life — fitness for the task and hard work — 
and determined to prepare himself thoroughly for the struggle 
with fortune. All his spare time was given to study. He 
taught himself mathematics and chemistry, and manifested a 
great fondness for literature. In the meantime he applied him- 
self faithfully to the business in which he was engaged ; and 
such was the remarkable maturity of his judgment and his apt- 
ness at accounts, that when he was but fourteen years of age 
he was left, during a brief absence of his employer, in charge 
of the entire business. 

In 1772 a terrible hurricane, long remembered for the de- 
struction it caused, swept over the West Indies. Young Ham- 
ilton wrote and published anonymously an account of it. The 
description was so vivid and the style so chaste, that the article 
attracted universal attention, and the young author was discov- 
ered. His friends were delighted, and determined to give him 




HAMILTON. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 339 

the opportunity to secure a college education. Accordingly, 
in the autumn of 1772, he was sent to Elizabethtown, in New 
Jersey, to prepare himself by a course of studies for admission 
into King's (now Columbia) College in New York. He en- 
tered King's College in the latter part of 1773, and directed his 
studies towards a preparation for the profession of medicine. 

He came to New York in the midst of the controversy be- 
tween the Colonies and Great Britain, and with all the ardor 
of his nature embraced the American cause. Young as he 
was, he did good service for it with his pen. He wrote several 
elaborate pamphlets and some minor tracts upon the questions 
of the day, in which he took the boldest and broadest ground 
in defense of the Colonies. He urged the policy of building 
up the manufactures of the Colonies, and of encouraging the 
growth of cotton in the South, that the country might be able 
to clothe itself These writings were published anonymously 
at first, and involved their author in a controversy with Dr. 
Cooper, the learned President of the college, and other able 
writers on the royalist side. He maintained the controversy 
with such ability that Dr. Cooper would never believe that his 
opponent was a mere boy of eighteen. The patriots of New 
York were well pleased with their young champion, and 
heartily applauded his performances. He did not remain sat- 
isfied with the labors of his pen, however. In July, 1774, 
when but seventeen years old, he was one of the speakers at a 
great public meeting held in the "Fields" — now the City Hall 
Park — and astounded the vast audience by the eloquence and 
force of his remarks. 

At the commencement of hostilities, while still at college, he 
began a series of military studies, especially in pyrotechnics 
and gunnery, and organized a volunteer corps composed of the 
students of the college and the young men of the city. In 
March, 1776, he was made captain of the company of artillery 
raised by authority of the province of New York, and at once 
entered upon active service. He soon brought his command 
to a high state of discipline and efficiency. One day, after the 
occupation of New York by the American army, General 
Greene was passing through the "Fields" on his way to Wash- 
ington's headquarters. Hamilton was engaged in drilling his 



340 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

batteiy at the time, and Greene stopped to watch him. Ham- 
ilton was "a mere youth, about twenty years of age ; small in 
person and stature, but remarkable for his alert and manly 
bearing." Greene, who was a thorough tactician, was delighted 
with the proficiency and tact with -vhich the young captain 
managed his men, and entered into conversation with him. 
He quickly discovered that the young man was a person of no 
ordinary power of mind, and invited him to his quarters. 
Thus began a friendship which remained unbroken. 

Hamilton was sent with his battery to join the army on Long 
Island, and in the disastrous battle of the 27th of August lost one 
of his field pieces and all his baggage. With the remainder of 
his guns he brought up the rear of the army in the withdrawal 
across the East River. His battery held a part of the fortified 
line below King's Bridge after the evacuation of New York by 
the American army. Washington, in making his rounds of in- 
spection, was very much struck with the skill and science dis- 
played in the construction of the works thrown up by Hamil- 
ton, and complimented him upon them. He was as much 
impressed with the young captain as Greene had been, and 
invited him to his headquarters. At the battle of White 
Plains, on the 28th of October, 1776, Hamilton's gallant con- 
duct attracted the attention of the Commander-in-Chief Dur- 
ing the retreat through New Jersey his batter)^ was frequently 
engaged in skirmishing with the enemy, and took part in the 
battles of Trenton and Princeton. 

In April, 1777, Washington, who had conceived a warm 
friendship for Hamilton, appointed him his aid-de-camp, with 
the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. " Strangers," says Irving, 
" were surprised to see a youth, scarce twenty years of age, 
received into the implicit confidence and admitted into the 
gravest counsels of a man like Washington. While his un- 
common talents commanded respect rarely inspired by one of 
his years, his juvenile appearance and bouyant spirit made him 
a universal favorite. Harrison, ' the old secretary,' much his 
senior, looked upon him with an almost paternal eye, and re- 
garding his diminutive size and towering spirit, used to call 
him 'the little lion;' while Washington would now and then 
speak of him by the cherishing appellation of ' my boy.' " 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 34 1 

Hamilton remained upon the staff of General Washington 
until the year 1781. He was during this time the "principal 
and most confidential aid " of the Commander-in-Chief, and 
discharged his duties with great ability. His talents, as has 
been said, won him the respect of the general officers of the 
army, who regarded his opinions with the consideration they 
merited. His knowledge of the French language was of the 
greatest service to Washington after the arrival of the French 
contingent, and the cordial manner in which he devoted him- 
self to the comfort of the French officers made him as great a 
favorite with them as he was with his own countrymen. His 
ability to speak French with fluency won him the friendship 
of Baron Steuben, whose merits he quickly detected. Hamil- 
ton strongly urged Washington to secure for the Baron the 
rank of Inspector-general, and had the happiness of seeing his 
recommendation carried out by the Commander-in-Chief 

In November, 1777, Colonel Hamilton was entrusted with a 
mission which put his tact and firmness to a severe trial, but 
which he successfully accomplished. The army of Burgoyne 
had surrendered, and Gates had been ordered to reinforce the 
Commander-in-Chief from his army. He put off compliance 
with this order so long that it was decided in council at head- 
quarters to send an officer of Washington's staff to him to 
represent the critical state of affairs, and urge him to send on 
the reinforcements. Hamilton was chosen for this mission. 
He found Gates very much indisposed to part with any of his 
troops. That general had designs of his own, to which the 
plans of the Commander-in-chief must give way. Hamilton 
felt great embarrassment in dealing with an officer who had 
just won the most considerable success of the war, and who 
was in consequence the idol of the hour ; but, by the exercise 
of considerable tact, succeeded at length in inducing Gates to 
order two brigades to the assistance of Washington. Gates 
gave this order with the greatest reluctance. Reinforcements 
falling short from this quarter, Hamilton was obliged to 
draw them from Putnam's command in the Highlands, and 
displayed equal good management in inducing the old hero to 
forego his fondly planned attack upon New York, and send a 
part of his troops to Washington. 



342 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

In the spring of 1778, Washington suggested to General 
Parsons, then commanding at West Point, a plan for the sur- 
prise and seizure of Sir Henry Clinton at his quarters in New 
York. Upon being informed of the plan, Hamilton agreed 
that it was very sure of success. "But sir," said he, "have you 
examined the consequences of it ?" "In what respect ?" asked 
Washington. "Why," replied Hamilton, "we shall rather lose 
than gain by removing Sir Henry from the command 
of the British army, because we perfectly understand his char- 
acter ; and by taking him away, we only make way for some 
other, perhaps an abler officer, whose character and disposi- 
tions we have to learn." Washington was convinced, upon 
reflection, that his aid-de-camp was right in his view of the 
matter, and his project to abduct Sir Henry was abandoned. 

When the majority of the Council of War held previous to 
the battle of Monmouth, advised against an attack upon the 
enemy, Hamilton earnestly urged Washington to give the pre- 
ference to the views of Greene, Wayne, and Lafayette, who 
composed the minority and were in favor of attacking the 
British without delay. In the battle which ensued, Hamilton 
greatly distinguished himself 

Hamilton was the first to receive the papers revealing Ar- 
nold's treason, captured upon Major Andrd, which Colonel 
Jameson had forwarded to Washington, and being the confi- 
dential aid-de-camp of the Commander-in-chief, opened and 
read them. He maintained silence as to their contents until 
the return of Washington from West Point, when he commu- 
nicated the startling intelligence to the General. He was at 
once despatched by Washington to Verplanck's Point, with 
orders to the commander of the batteiy at that place to fire 
upon Arnold if he had not already passed that point. Hamil- 
ton rode at breakneck speed in his eagerness to intercept the 
traitor, but Arnold's barge had passed the battery some time 
before his arrival, and the traitor was safe on board the Vul- 
ture. 

In 1 78 1, when it was decided by Congress to appoint Secre- 
taries of Foreign Affairs, of War and of Marine, and a Super- 
intendent of Finance, General Sullivan, who was in Congress, 
and was a warm friend of Hamilton, was anxious that the 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 343 

young colonel, then but twenty-nine years old, should be 
placed at the head of the treasury department, and wrote to 
Washington to ascertain his opinion of Hamilton's qualifica- 
tions. "I am unable to answer," replied Washington, "because 
I never entered upon a discussion with him, but this I can ven- 
ture to advance, from a thorough knowledge of him, that there 
are few men to be found of his age, who have more general 
knowledge than he possesses ; and none whose soul is more 
firmly engaged in the cause, or who exceeds him in probity 
and sterling virtue," 

A few days after this warm tribute was written, Hamilton 
ceased to be a member of Washington's military family in con- 
sequence of a misunderstanding with the Commander-in-Chief, 
in which the colonel was clearly in the wrong. In a letter to 
General Schuyler, whose daughter Hamilton had married, the 
colonel thus states the reasons which induced him to quit the 
staff: "I always disliked the office of an aid-de-camp, as having 
in it a kind of personal dependence. I refused to serve in this 
capacity with two Major-generals, at an early period of the 
war. Infected, however, with the enthusiasm of the times, an 
idea of the general's character overcame my scruples, and in- 
duced me to accept his invitation to enter into his family. * * 
It has been often with great difficulty that I have prevailed on 
myself not to renounce it ; but while, from motives of public 
utility, I was doing violence to my feelings, I was always de- 
termined, if there should ever happen a breach between us, 
never to consent to an accommodation. I was persuaded that 
when once that nice barrier which marked the boundaries of 
what we owed to each other should be thrown down, it might 
be propped again, but could never be restored." 

" Hamilton," says Irving, " in fact, had long been ambitious 
of an independent position, and of some opportunity, as he said, 
' to raise his character above mediocrity.' When an expedition 
by Lafayette against Staten Island had been meditated in the 
autumn of 1780, he had applied to the Commander-in-Chief, 
through the Marquis, for the command of a battalion, which 
was without a field officer. Washington had declined, on the 
ground that giving him a whole battalion might be a subject of 
dissatisfaction, and that should any accident happen to him in 



344 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the actual state of affairs at headquarters, the Commander-in- 
Chief M'ould be embarrassed for want of his assistance. He 
had next been desirous of the post of Adjutant-general, which 
Colonel Alexander Scammel was about to resign, and was 
recommended for that office by Lafayette and Greene, but, be- 
fore their recommendations reached Washington, he had 
already sent into Congress the name of Brigadier-general 
Hand, who received the nomination. These disappointments 
may have rendered Hamilton doubtful of his being properly 
appreciated by the Commander-in-Chief; impaired his devq- 
tion to him, and determined him, as he says, ' if there should 
ever happen a breach between them, never to consent to an 
accommodation.' It almost looks as if, in his high-strung and 
sensitive mood, he had been on the watch for an offence, and 
had grasped at the shadow of one." ^ 

A temporary coolness between Washington and Hamilton 
succeeded their parting ; but it was only temporary. " The 
friendship of these two illustrious men was destined to survive 
the Revolution, and to signalize itself through the many event- 
ful years." 

In September, 1780, Hamilton, who had taken a deep inter- 
est in the efforts to draw the States into a more perfect union, 
addressed a letter to Mr. Duane, of New York, urging the 
meeting of a Convention of delegates from all the States, with 
full powers to form a general confederation. " He traced the 
causes of the want of power in Congress, and censured that 
body for its timidity in refusing to assume authority to pre- 
serve the republic from harm." " Undefined powers," he said, 
"are discretionary powers, limited only by the object for which 
they were given. * * * Wc must, at all events, have a strong 
confederation if we mean to succeed in the contest, and be 
happy thereafter. Internal police should be regulated by the 
legislatures. Congress should have complete sovereignty in 
all that relates to war, peace, trade, foreign affairs, finance, 
armies, fleets, fortifications, coining money, establishing banks, 
imposing a land tax, poll tax, duties on trade, and the unoccu- 
pied lands. * * * The Confederation should provide certain 
perpetual revenues, productive and easy of collection — a land 

^ Iniing s Life of Washington. Vol. V., pp. 212-13. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 345 

tax, poll tax, or the like ; which together with the duties on 
trade and the unlocated lands, would give Congress a substan- 
tial existence. * * While the public good is evidently the ob- 
ject, more may be effected in governments like ours than in 
any other. It has been a constant remark that free countries 
have ever paid the heaviest taxes. The obedience of a free 
people to general laws, however hard they bear, is even more 
perfect than that of slaves to the arbitrary will of a prince. 
* * As to the plan of confederation which Congress had pro- 
posed, it is defective, and requires to be altered. It is neither 
fit for war nor peace. The idea of an uncontrollable sover- 
eignty in each State will defeat the powers given to Congress, 
and make our Union feeble and precarious." 

He also recommended the appointment of Secretaries in 
place of the Committees of Congress to take charge of the 
departments of Foreign Affairs, War, the Navy, and the Trea- 
sury. He left the executive power in the hands of Congress, 
however. He also proposed the establishment of a National 
Bank, modeled upon the plan of the Bank of England. 

Hamilton was but twenty-three years old at the time this 
remarkable letter was written, in which the general features of 
the system finally adopted in the Constitution of the United 
States, were outlined. The letter attracted general attention, 
and did much to establish the reputation of the writer. 

After withdrawing from the staff. Colonel Hamilton was as- 
signed the command of a corps of light infantry in the division 
of General Lafayette. In this capacity he took part in the 
siege of Yorktown, and led the night attack upon the British 
redoubts on the 14th of October. He was the first to mount 
the parapet, and carried the work at the point of the bayonet 
without firing a shot. His humanity was displayed in this 
engagement as conspicuously as his courage. He saved 
the life of Major Campbell, the commander of the redoubt, who 
was about to be despatched by a New Hampshire captain in 
revenge for his friend Colonel Scammel, who had been put to 
death by the British. Not a man was killed on this occasion 
save in a fair combat. 

Hamilton was convinced that the surrender of Cornwallis was 
decisive of the war, and after the siege of Yorktown repaired to 



346 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Albany, where he at once began the study of law in order to 
be able to enter upon the practice of it at the close of the war. 
At the same time he held himself in readiness to return to the 
army in case of the renewal of the war. He was appointed by 
Robert Morris, then at the head of the Treasury Department 
of the Confederation, receiver of taxes for New York, which 
position he held while pursuing his legal studies. He wrote 
the resolutions which General Schuyler, his father-in-law, 
offered in the Senate of New York on the 19th of July, 1782, 
declaring that the General Government ought to have power 
to provide a revenue for itself, and expressing the conviction 
of New York " that the foregoing important ends can never be 
attained by partial deliberations of the States separately ; but 
that it is essential to the common welfare that there should be 
as soon as possible a conference of the whole on the subject; 
and that it would be advisable for this purpose to propose to 
Congress to recommend, and to each State to adopt, the meas- 
ure of assembling a general convention of the States, specially 
authorized to revise and amend the Confederation, reserving a 
right to the respective Legislatures to ratify their determin- 
ations." The resolutions were adopted by a unanimous vote 
of both Houses of the Legislature, and Hamilton was elected 
one of the delegates from New York to Congress. 

Colonel Hamilton at once took rank as one of the leading 
members of Congress, and imparted to the proceedings of that 
body a firmer and more vigorous tone than had marked them 
of late. It was the impulse of the young statesman to com- 
mand ; and he readily found a party in Congress which made 
him its chief "If you were but ten years older and twenty 
thousand pounds richer," said a member of Congress to him, 
"Congress would give you the highest place they have to be- 
stow." Nor was he a leader in name only. His activity was 
incessant, and his measures bore the stamp of his daring and 
untiring genius. 

He was elected a member of the Federal Convention of 
1787, which formed the Constitution of the United States, and 
was the recognized leader of the New York delegation to that 
body. He was now thirty years old, and was looked up to by 
the State of New York as her most gifted adviser. He 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 347 

brought with him to the Convention a carefully arranged and 
well digested plan for a Federal Government, which he meant 
should take the place of the old Articles of Confederation. It 
was so perfectly arranged in all its details that Mr. Madison 
has declared it was capable of being put in instant operation, 
without alteration or addition. 

In making this plan of government, Hamilton had not 
sought to carry out his own preferences entirely. He knew 
that the people were determined to try the experiment of a 
Federal Republic, and his plan was arranged to meet their 
wishes. The only thing in w^hich he sought to please himself 
was his effort to make this Republic as much like the British 
monarchy as possible. He made no secret of his conviction 
that republicanism was a mere dream, and was destined to 
certain and speedy failure. His avowed preference was for a 
limited monarchy, and he regarded the British Constitution as 
the most perfect system of government ever invented by man. 
Nevertheless, the people were determined that republican in- 
stitutions should be tried, and he was equally determined that 
this trial should be fair and thorough as far as he was con- 
cerned. 

Hamilton's plan did not suit the Convention, which was more 
in sympathy with the spirit of America than he. All that he 
valued was cut out of it, and only the features that he deemed 
the least important were incorporated in the system adopted by 
the Convention. He took an active part in the debates, and 
fully sustained his reputation as an orator and a statesman. 

Colonel Hamilton gave his hearty support to the Constitu- 
tion as finally adopted by the Convention, and urged its ratifi- 
cation by the States. It did not satisfy him ; far from it ; but 
he saw that it was the only result possible at the time, and that 
its rejection by the States would simply leave them weak and 
divided. He admitted that the Constitution was an improve- 
ment upon the Articles of Confederation, but he thought it a 
"shilly-shally thing" after all. He thought that it might tide 
the country over the present crisis, but did not believe it would 
stand the test of time. One result he was sure would be to 
disgust the people with republicanism and hasten the establish- 
ment of that limited monarchy which was the end of all his 



348 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

dreams. Still he recognized the absolute necessity of its adop- 
tion by the States, and he set to work with all his great energy 
and ability to urge it upon them. He made himself its cham- 
pion, and did more than any other man in America to secure 
its adoption. In October, 1787, while on his way down the 
Hudson from Albany to New York, he wrote a powerful essay 
in its behalf for the press. This was followed by sixty-four 
other articles of a similar nature during the winter. These 
sixty-five essays, with twenty others by Madison and Jay, have 
since been collected and published under the general title of 
"The Federalist." Hamilton's articles were written during 
the time he could snatch from a busy and growing law prac- 
tice. 

After the organization of the Executive Departments of the 
new government, Colonel Hamilton was appointed by Presi- 
dent Washington, in September, 1789, Secretary of the Treas- 
ury. So well was Hamilton's fitness for this position under- 
stood, that his nomination was confirmed by the Senate on the 
day it was made. The views of the President and the Senate 
were shared by the whole nation. Even those who doubted 
his fidelity to the new system acknowledged his great genius. 
He was in all respects a man of extraordinary powers. " Of 
Scotch and Celtic origin, he had something of proneness to the 
exercise of authority. His nature and temperament demanded 
a strong and well organized government of ever active and 
enduring power. Though still so young, his creative mind 
was, and remained for his lifetime, the wellspring of ideas for 
the conservative politicians of New York, and of an ever in- 
creasing circle in other States. From his childhood he was 
unbounded in his admiration of the English Constitution, and 
did not utterly condemn its methods of influence in the con- 
duct of public affairs; yet in his own nature there was nothing 
mean or low ; he was disinterested, and always true to his 
sense of personal integrity and honor. The character of his 
mind and his leaning to authority, combined with something 
of a mean opinion of his fellow men, cut him off from the sym- 
pathy of the masses, so that he was in many ways unfit to lead 
a party ; and the years of his life wnich were most productive 
of good were those in which he acted with Washington, who 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 349 

was the head, the leader and the guide of a nation in a manner 
which he was not only incapable of, but could never even fully 
comprehend. While the weightiest testimony that has ever 
been borne to the ability of Hamilton is by Washington, there 
never fell from Hamilton's pen, during the lifetime of the latter, 
one line which adequately expressed the character of Washing- 
ton, or gave proof that he had the patience to verify the im- 
mense power that lay concealed beneath the uniform moder- 
ation and method of his chief He had a good heart, but with 
it the pride and the natural arrogance of youth, combined with 
an almost overweening consciousness of his powers, so that he 
was ready to find faults in the administrations of others, and to 
believe that things might have gone better if the direction had 
rested with himself Bold in the avowal of his own opinions, 
he was fearless to provoke and prompt to combat opposition. 
It was not his habit to repine over lost opportur^ties ; his na- 
ture inclined him rather to prevent what seemed to him com- 
ing evils by timely action. 

"The England of that day had its precocious statesmen. 
For stateliness of eloquence, and consummate skill in managing 
a legislative assembly, the palm must be given to Pitt, whom 
Hamilton excelled in«v'igor, consistency and versatility. There 
were points of analogy between Hamilton and Fox. Both 
were of warm and passionate natures ; but Hamilton became 
the father of a family, while Fox wasted life as a libertine. It 
was remarkable of both of them, that, with glowing natures, 
their style in debate and in writing was devoid of ornament, 
attractive only by strength of thought and clearness of expres- 
sion." ' 

Immediately upon entering upon his new position, Hamilton 
addressed himself with his usual energy to the difficult duties 
before him. The condition of the country was very critical. It 
was burdened with debt, and the currency of the United States 
was worthless. Ths national debt, which had been forty-two 
millions of dollars at the close of the war, had swollen through 
arrears of interest to upwards of fifty-four millions. Of this 
amount, nearly twelve millions were due to creditors in France, 

^Bancroft's History of the United States. Vol. X., pp. 410-11. 



350 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Holland and Spain; the remainder to the officers and soldiers 
of the armies of the Revolution ; to the farmers who had sold 
supplies to the Government, or whose property had been taken 
for the public service; and to capitalists who had advanced 
money to the Government at critical periods. The larger part 
of the domestic debt had been parted with by the original 
holders, and was now due to speculative purchasers, who had 
bought it at a depreciation of over seventy per cent. There 
was a strong feeling throughout the country that these specu- 
lative purchasers should receive only the amount they had 
paid for the certificates of the Government. They, on their 
part, argued that by buying the certificates even at their de- 
preciated value, they had relieved the immediate wants of the 
original holders, and had assumed the entire risk of the failure 
of the Government to pay them, and were therefore entitled 
to the profit 'that would accrue to them by a payment of the 
certificates in full. 

Besides the national debt, the States individually were in- 
volved in liabilities contracted on account of the war to the 
aggregate amount of about twenty-five millions of dollars. Thus 
the whole debt due by the country on account of the Revolution 
was nearly eighty millions of dollars. 

In this state of affairs the credit of the General Government 
disappeared. It was imperatively necessary that some system 
of finance should be devised at once which should revive the 
national credit, place the public debt in a condition to be paid 
off, and secure the funds necessary for the proper and energetic 
administration of the General Government. The administra- 
tion of Washington was pledged to bring about such a result ; 
the very life of the Republic depended upon it. At the open- 
ing of the session of 1789-90, Congress requested the Secretary 
of the Treasury to prepare during its recess a plan for accom- 
plishing this great object. 

At the reassembling of Congress in January, 1790, Hamiltor. 
submitted his plan to Congress. He insisted, as the basis of 
all efforts to bring about a healthy financial condition, that the 
foreign debt should be paid in full according to its terms. The 
debt due to American holders of the Government certificates, 
he declared, should be paid in full also, whether those certifi- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 35 I 

cates were held by the original creditors, or by persons who 
had purchased them at their depreciated value. The faith of 
the nation, he declared, was pledged to the payment of the 
debt regardless of the character of the creditors, and he repu- 
diated the distinction which some were inclined to make 
between them, as unwise, impolitic, unjust, and impracticable. 
He urged Congress to assume the debts of the States, as they 
were all contracted forthe common cause of national independ- 
ence and not for the benefit of any particular section. No 
more money would be required to be raised by this transfer, 
and the process of payment would be expedited, as it was 
easier for the Federal Government to raise money than for the 
States to do so. He recommended, therefore, that the whole 
mass of the debt be funded, that the United States be made 
responsible for it, and taxes be levied for its payment. In 
order that the debt might be made secure, he suggested that 
the domestic creditors should consent to an abatement of 
accruing interest. A reason for urging the assumption by 
Congress of the State debts "which, no doubt, had great 
weight with him, though he did not bring it under considera- 
tion in his report, for fear, probably, of offending the jealousy 
of State sovereignty, dormant, but not extinct, was, that it 
would tend to unite the States financially, as they were united 
politically, and strengthen the central government by rallying 
capitalists around it, subjecting them to its influence, and ren- 
dering them agents of its will." 

The plan of the Secretary of the Treasury was called up for 
discussion in Congress on the 8th of February. It was opposed 
with great vehemence, particularly the proposed assumption of 
the State debts, which was denounced as tending to consoli- 
dation in the Government, as giving too much influence to the 
Federal Government, and as unconstitutional. The opposition 
was not confined to Congress, but extended throughout the 
country. The Northern States generally approved the plan, 
but the South, with the exception of South Carolina, opposed 
it. It was the most intricate problem that had yet been pre- 
sented to the country for solution, and it was not strange that 
it should occasion profound and radical differences of opinion. 
The most alarming feature of the discussion was the sectional 



352 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

division which it occasioned. The Northern and Eastern 
States were to be chiefly benefited by the proposed assumption, 
and were unanimously in its favor. The Southern States, with 
but the single exception noted above, opposed it. The success 
of the scheme was very doubtful. 

There was another question before the public which was at- 
tracting great attention. It had been resolved by Congress to 
remove the seat of the Federal Government from New York, 
and to acquire a Federal District, which should be free from 
the control of the States and under the supreme authority of 
Congress. The North and the South were each anxious that 
the proposed district should be situated within their respective 
limits, and the quarrel over this question had become almost as 
bitter as that over the proposition for the assumption of the 
State debts. 

At this juncture, Hamilton, who had almost begun to 
despair of the success of his plan, resolved to combine the two 
questions of the assumption of the State debts and the removal 
of the seat of government, in the hope of effecting a compro- 
mise upon them. Mr. Jefferson had just arrived in New York 
to assume his position as Secretary of State, and Hamilton de- 
termined to secure his influence in favor of the scheme, as he 
was looked up to by the Southern members of Congress with 
unbounded confidence. At his urgent solicitation, Mr. J^erson 
agreed to assemble the leading Southern members at a dinner 
at his house, and induce them to give their votes in favor of the 
assumption. Hamilton declared that if they would support this 
measure the Northern members would vote in favor of the lo- 
cation of the National Capital on the banks of the Potomac. 
The dinner was given, and a sufficient number of votes was 
pledged for the assumption bill on the terms proposed by 
Hamilton. 

The measure was finally adopted in a somewhat modified 
form. The State debts, to the amount of $ 2 1,5 00,000, were as- 
sumed by Congress, and this sum was divided specifically 
among the States. The bill in this form passed the Senate 
on the 22d of July, and the House on the 24th. It was promptly 
signed by the President and became a law. 

The promise of Hamilton respecting the transfer of the seat 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 353 

of government was carried out in good faith, the Northern 
members being won over to it by his influence. A bill was 
passed by Congress establishing the seat of government at 
Philadelphia for ten years. In the year 1 800 it was to be trans- 
ferred to the new city of Washington, on the banks of the Po- 
tomac. 

Mr. Jefferson afterwards regretted the part he took in this 
transaction, as upon further investigation of the subject, (which 
he frankly told Hamilton at the time of the latter's appeal to 
him, he did not understand,) he was of the opinion that the 
States should have paid their own debts. From this time he 
became suspicious of Hamilton, a feeling which deepened as he 
became better acquainted with the viev/s of his fellow-secretary. 

Having carried his scheme for the funding of the debt, • 
Hamilton now proposed to Congress another measure over 
which he had brooded since before the close of the war. In 
his first report to Congress he had urged the establishment of 
a Bank of the United States, modeled upon the Bank of Eng- 
land. In his report to Congress in December, 1791, he urged 
the immediate adoption of this suggestion. A bill establishing 
a national bank was introduced in the Senate and passed. It 
was warmly opposed in the House on constitutional grounds 
and for other reasons, but was finally passed by a majority of 
nineteen votes. When the bill was presented to the President 
for his action, the Cabinet was evenly divided. Jefferson and 
Randolph opposed it as unconstitutional ; Hamilton and Knox 
sustained it, Washington maturely weighed the objections to 
the measure, and then gave the bill his signature. 

The Bank of the United States was established at Philadel- 
phia with a charter for twenty years and a capital of ten mil- 
lions of dollars, of which the Government took two millions, 
and private individuals the remainder. The establishment of 
the Bank was very beneficial to the Government, as well as to 
the general business of the country. The notes of the Bank 
were payable in gold and silver on presentation at its coun- 
ters. 

Hamilton was closely identified with the measures of Wash- 
ington's administration. The confidence of the President in 
his abilities and integrity was unbounded, and the influence of 
23 



354 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the Secretary over Washington was very great, so that Ham- 
ilton may be said to have controlled the general policy of the 
administration. He advised the President to issue his Procla- 
mation of Neutrality in 1793, during the struggle between 
France and England, and firmly supported the neutral policy 
of the Government during this war. He regarded the earlier 
stages of the French Revolution with favor, so long as the 
efforts of the French Liberals were directed to limiting the 
power of the crown and confirming the liberties of the subject; 
but he denounced, with all the energy of his nature, the at- 
tempts to overthrow the monarchy, and regarded the excesses 
of the Revolutionists as a natural result of republicanism. 

In 1794, when it was decided to send a minister to England 
to negotiate a treaty which should put an end to the causes 
which threatened to involve the two countries in war, Colonel 
Hamilton was the President's choice for that position. Con- 
siderable opposition was expressed to this appointment, and 
Hamilton advised the President to send John Jay, Chief Jus- 
tice of the United States, on the mission. Mr. Jay was nomi- 
nated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Hamilton 
had retired from the Cabinet before the treaty negotiated by 
Jay was received, but defended it in a series of able papers 
published during the summer of 1795. 

The opposition of Mr, Jefferson to Hamilton's plan for a 
national bank brought the two secretaries in direct conflict with 
each other, and from this time the war between them was open 
and declared. "Hamilton and myself," writes Jefferson, "were 
daily pitted in the Cabinet like two cocks." General Knox, in 
these differences, sustained his old comrade in arms, and Ran- 
dolph adhered to Mr. Jefferson. The President constantly en- 
deavored to harmonize the differences of the secretaries, but 
without success. The quarrel was the result of a mutual mis- 
conception of the true purposes of the opposing parties, as well 
as an inevitable conflict between principles naturally hostile. 
Jefferson was a born republican ; Hamilton a natural aristocrat. 
Jefferson believed that government was for the people, should 
be by the people, and should be conducted on the most genu- 
ine principles of political equality. Hamilton distrusted and 
misunderstood the people, and believed only in a limited mon- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 355 

archy which should embrace his poHtical trinity of King, 
Lords, and Commons. To Hamilton Jefferson appeared as a 
full-blooded Radical, who sought to break down all govern- 
ment and inaugurate the reign of communism. Jefferson 
looked upon Hamilton as a plotter against the republic he had 
sworn to uphold, and mistook his preference for monarchical 
institutions for a determination to force them upon the country. 
He looked upon all Hamilton's measures for remedying the 
financial difficulties of the country as having a deeper motive, and 
as being designed to change by degrees the system of government 
to an extent that the final transition to a monarchy would be sim- 
ple. In his own mind, Mr. Jefferson did full justice to the vir- 
tues of Hamilton's character, and, in his "Anas," speaks of 
him as a man "of acute understanding, disinterested, honest, 
and honorable in all private transactions ; amiable in society, 
and duly valuing virtue in private life. Yet so bewitched and 
perverted by the British example, as to be under thorough 
conviction that corruption was essential to the government of 
a nation." Hamilton was not so ready to do justice to his 
rival. He could not bear opposition to his plans, and resented 
it as an attack upon himself Entertaining a profound con- 
tempt for mankind in general, the bitterness of his wrath was 
reserved for those whom he considered his enemies. 

The quarrel between the two Secretaries spread to the coun- 
try, and each soon found himself the leader of a powerful and 
devoted following. We have already given the outline of this 
quarrel in its later stages, and need not repeat it here. It gave 
the President no little annoyance and pain, and was seriously 
detrimental to the best interests of the country. 

In January, 1795, Hamilton resigned his Secretaryship. The 
salary of his office was not sufficient to enable him to support 
his family in comfort, and there were other reasons which in- 
duced him to return to the practice of his profession. Wash- 
ington accepted his resignation with regret, and in parting with 
him, wrote to him : "After so long an experience of your pub- 
lic services, I am naturally led, at this moment of your depar- 
ture from office (which it has always been my wish to prevent), 
to review them. In every relation which you have borne to 
me, I have found that my confidence in your talents, exertions, 



356 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

and integrity has been well placed. I the more freely render 
this testimony of my approbation, because I speak from op- 
portunities of information which cannot deceive me, and which 
furnish satisfactory proof of your title to public regard." 

After retiring from the Cabinet, Colonel Hamilton devoted 
himself to the practice of his profession. He remained the 
acknowledged leader of the Federalist party in New York, and 
was by far the most influential man in that State. He sup- 
ported Mr. Adams for the Presidency, and did much to secure 
his election. 

To the earlier measures of Mr. Adams's administration, Colo- 
nel Hamilton gave his approval and support, and some of the 
most objectionable features of that administration are directly 
traceable to his influence. He inspired the Alien and Sedition 
laws, which were a disgrace to the American statute book, and 
which we have discussed in our sketch of John Adams. These 
measures were passed by the votes of the party over which 
his influence was all powerful. His share in these transactions 
rendered him the object of the bitter hatred of the Republi- 
cans. He saw no harm in them, however, and regarded them 
as but a means of giving to the Federal Government the char- 
acter he desired it to possess. 

When the troubles in France began, Hamilton became the 
leader of the party which desired war with that country. When 
the raising of a provisional army was ordered by Congress, 
with Washington as Commander-in-Chief, Hamilton was made 
the senior Major-general of the new organization. He was 
virtually the Commander-in-Chief, for Washington, unwilling to 
leave his home unless required by the necessities of the case, 
left the management of military affairs very much in the hands 
of Hamilton, in whom he had perfect confidence. 

Hamilton had long regarded the French Revolution with in- 
tense hatred, and was delighted at the prospect of dealing a 
blow to Revolutionary France. He hoped also to secure the 
alliance of England, and to induce the Government of the 
United States to aid the South American States to throw off 
the rule of Spain. Thus far he had been able to carry things 
his own way. As we have seen, the members of the Cabinet 
were devoted to him, and were prepared to aid him in his efforts 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 357 

to dragoon President Adams in submitting to his will. So 
much was he elated by the success of his measures, and so 
little did he anticipate an independent course on the part of the 
President, that he deemed the war with France certain ; he had 
no doubt that the struggle would be one of sufficent magnitude 
to enable him to win all the military renown he coveted. 

He was rudely j-oused from his dreams of glory by the de- 
cisive course of President Adams, which we have related else- 
where, in meeting the French overtures for peace in a friendly 
manner, and in bringing the quarrel to a peaceful and honor- 
able settlement. John Adams never did a nobler deed than 
this, but it cost him his popularity. Hamilton never forgave 
him, and resolved to destroy him. " For my individual part," 
he wrote to Theodore Sedgwick, " my mind is made up. I 
will never more be responsible for Adams by direct support, 
even though the consequence should be the election of Jeffer- 
son. If we must have an enemy at the head of the govern- 
ment, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we 
are not responsible, and who will not involve our party in the 
disgrace of his foolish and bad measures." By his intrigues to 
defeat Mr. Adams he destroyed his own party. The election 
of 1800 was thrown into the House of Representatives, and re- 
sulted in the choice of Mr. Jefferson. 

In Hamilton's own State of New York, the election went 
against him, and the people elected a Legislature pledged to 
choose Republican electors. Hamilton had so little sym- 
pathy with the true spirit of republicanism that he was not 
willing to submit to this decision of the people. " He instantly 
wrote to Governor Jay, urging him to summon at once the cx- 
isthig Legislature (whose time had still seven weeks to run,) 
and get it to pass a law depriving the Legislature of power to 
elect electors, and devolving it upon the people by districts. 
This manoeuvre would give the beaten Federalists a second 
chance. It would rob the Republicans of their victory. * * ■* 

" To a person unacquainted with Hamilton's peculiar charac- 
ter, this advice to the Governor seems simply base. But the 
error, like millions of others of our short-sighted race, was not 
half so much moral as mental. It w'as ignorance and inca- 
pacity, rather than turpitude. He said to the Governor in sub- 



358 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHV. 

stance : ' I own that this measure is not regular, nor delicate, 
nor, in ordinary circumstances, even decent; but scruples of 
delicacy and propriety ought not to hinder the taking of a 
legal and constitutional step to prevent an atheist in religion and 
a fanatic in politics from getting possession of the helm of state. 
You don't know these Republicans as I do,' he continued, ' the 
party is a composition, mdeed, of very incongruous materials, 
but all tending to mischief; some of them to the overthrow of 
the government by stripping it of its due energies, others of 
them to a revolution, after the manner of Bonaparte. I speak 
from indubitable facts, not from conjectures and inferences. 
Now. ray dear sir, these people call to their aid " all the re- 
sources which vice can give ;" can we, then, hope to succeed, 
we virtuous, if we confine ourselves "within all the ordinary 
forms of delicacy and decorum ?" No, indeed. But, of course, 
we must " frankly avow " our object. You must tell the Legis- 
lature that our purpose is to reverse the result of the late elec- 
tion, in order to prevent the General Government from falling 
into hostile hands, and to save the great cause of social order.' 

" To us, this long epistle to Mr. Jay reads more like mania 
than wickedness. This man had lived in New York twenty 
years without so much as learning the impossibility of its 
people being made to submit to an outrage so gross. Governor 
Jay was at no loss to characterize the proposal aright. Instead 
of plunging the State into civil war by adopting the measure, 
he folded Hamilton's letter and put it away among his most 
private papers, bearing this indorsement : ' Proposing a measure 
for party purposes which I think it ivould not become me to 
adopt.' " ^ 

And yet Hamilton was not a bad man. He was scrupu- 
lously faithful to his political convictions ; but those convic- 
tions were not such as a good American should hold. He held 
that a long stretch of power was lawful in politics. He was 
honorable and upright in his dealings with his fellow-men, and 
exceedingly kind-hearted and amiable in disposition. " What 
a pleasant picture we have of the breakfast scene at his house, 
No. 24 Broadway, the mother seated at the head of the table, 

1 Life of Thomas yefferson. By Jiimes Parton, pp. 562-563. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 359 

with a napkin in her lap, cutting slices of bread from a great 
family loaf of the olden time, and spreading them with butter 
for the younger boys, who stood round her, reading in turn 
from the Bible or Goldsmith's History of Rome; while the 
father, in the room adjoining, was seated at the piano playing 
an accompaniment to his daughter's new song, or singing it to 
her accompaniment. When the lessons were finished, and a 
stately pile of bread and butter was ready, all the eight child- 
ren came to breakfast; after which the younger ones were 
packed off to school, and the father went to his office 

"Who more amiable than that father? There is a portrait 
of Mrs. Hamilton, as one of her sons relates, bearing the name 
of the painter, 'T, Earle, 1787,' which attests his goodness of 
heart. Earle was in the debtor's prison at the time, and Ham- 
ilton induced his wife to go to the prison and sit for her por- 
trait. She persuaded other ladies, and thus the artist gained 
money enough to pay his debts and get out of jail. No man 
was more ready than Hamilton to set on foot such good- 
natured schemes, though himself never too far from the debtor's 
prison. At this very time — 1791 to 1794 — he was pinched 
severely in his effort to live upon his little salary. ' If you 
can lend me conveniently twenty dollars for a few days,' he 
wrote to a friend in September, 1 791, 'be so good as to send 
it by the bearer.' The friend sent a check for fifty dollars. 
And Talleyrand said, in 1794, coming from Hamilton's house, 
' I have beheld one of the wonders of the world — a man who 
has made the fortune of a nation laboring all night to support 
a family." ^ 

In November, 1801, General Hamilton's eldest son, Philip, 
a young man of twenty, became involved in a quarrel with a 
Mr. Eacker, of New York. Hamilton challenged Eacker to 
mortal combat. The parties met on the shores of the Hudson, 
and young Hamilton was mortally wounded. He died the 
next day. The untimely end of his son was a cruel blow to 
General Hamilton, and for the time seemed to crush him. 

In the campaign of 1804, the Republican party declined to 
renominate Colonel Aaron Burr for the Vice Presidency, and 

^ Par ton. 



360 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

nominated George Clinton in his place. Burr received the 
Republican nomination for Governor of New York, but was 
opposed during the canvass with great warmth by General 
Hamilton, and was defeated. He deeply resented Hamilton's 
exertions against him, and resolved to be revenged upon him. 
He soon found a pretext, and at once seized upon it. One of 
the newspapers of the day published a letter written by Dr. 
Cooper to a friend, in which the following passage occurred : 
"Gen. Hamilton and Judge Kent have declared in substance 
that they looked upon Mr. Burr to be a dangerous man, and 
one who ought not to be trusted with the reins of government. 
/ conld detail to you a still more despicable opinion winch General 
Hamilton has expressed of Mr. Burr^ 

As this was as good a cause of quarrel as he was likely to 
find, Burr's resolution was taken. On the 17th of June, 1804, 
he despatched his friend, Mr. Van Ness, with a letter to Hamil- 
ton, in which he said : " You must perceive, sir, the necessity 
of a prompt and unqualified acknowledgement or denial of the 
use of any expressions which could warrant the assertions of 
Dr. Cooper." 

Hamilton, on the 20th of June, replied to this communica- 
tion. He declared his readiness to avow or deny any particu- 
lar opinion or expression attributed to himself, but declined to 
be responsible for, or to be questioned about the assertions or 
inferences of third parties. Considerable correspondence fol- 
lowed, in which Hamilton showed the most conciliatory spirit, 
though it was evident that Burr meant to force him into an 
encounter. Burr had deliberately resolved upon the death of 
Hamilton, and he left him no opportunity of avoiding a hostile 
meeting with credit. Such was the barbarous spirit of the 
times that Hamilton was driven, in order to avoid public dis- 
grace, to consent to his own murder. The correspondence was 
brought to a close by a challenge from Burr to a mortal com- 
bat, and against his better judgment, Hamilton consented to the 
meeting. The seconds agreed that the encounter should take 
place on the shore of the Hudson, at Weehawken, on the nth 
of July, at an early hour of the morning. 

On the 9th of July Hamilton made his will. He desired 
that his debts should be paid, and left the residue of his 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 361 

property, if any should remain after such payment, to his wife, 
whom he tenderly committed to the care of his sons. He 
deeply regretted the necessity of the meeting with Burr, but 
could see no alternative consistent with his honor. Public 
opinion had not then condemned the barbarous code, as it has 
since. He had no wish to injure Burr, and declared to his 
second his intention to throw away his fire. 

At the appointed time the parties with their seconds crossed 
over from New York in hired boats to the Jersey shore, and 
repaired to the designated spot on the river shore at the foot of 
the heights of Weehawken, the spot where, three years before, 
young Philip Hamilton had fallen in a similar encounter. The 
preliminaries were soon arranged, and the principals took their 
positions. The word of command was given, and Burr taking 
deliberate aim at his antagonist fired. Hamilton fell, but true 
to his resolution^ threw away his fire, and his pistol was acci- 
dentally discharged as he was falling. Burr glanced at him 
with a look of pity, but was hurried away by his second, 
Hamilton was partially stunned by the shock of his injury, but 
recovered as his second and surgeon hastened to him. His 
eye rested for a moment on his pistol which lay upon the ground, 
and of the discharge of which he was ignorant. Anxious for 
the safety of his friends, he said, faintly : " Take care of that 
pistol. It is undischarged and still cocked ; it may go off, and 
do harm. Pendleton (his second) knows that I did not mean 
to fire at him." 

He was carried to the boat and rowed across to New York, 
and conveyed to the house of his friend, Mr. Bayard. His 
wife was sent for, and the sad news broken gently to her. 
Hamilton was aware that his hurt was mortal; but bore his 
sufferings with fortitude, and endeavored to comfort his heart- 
broken wife. He sank rapidly, and died on the 12th of July, 
in the forty-eighth year of his age. 

His death was universally lamented in all parts of the coun- 
try, and even his political enemies, touched by the suddenness 
of his fate, joined in the tributes to his memory. Burr was 
regarded with such horror that he found it best to retire to 
Georgia, until the indignation he had excited, by the murder 
of his victim, had subsided. 



GEORGE CLINTON. 

ONE of the most devoted adherents of the Stuarts during 
the great civil war in England was General James Clinton. 
At the fall of the King he passed over to Ireland, where he estab- 
lished his family. In 1729, his grandson, Charles Clinton, 
emigrated to America, and settled in Ulster, now Orange 
County, New York, just above the Highlands of the Hudson. 
Charles Clinton's new home was not more than fifty miles 
distant from New York, but was on the extreme frontier. Be- 
yond it were the wilderness and the savage. The house was 
built with a view to protection from assault, as well as to se- 
curing the comforts of a home, for it was oftentimes necessary 
to convert these border mansions into fortresses to resist the 
attacks of the Indians. Charles Clinton was, of necessity, a 
soldier. He took an active part in the wars with the Indians 
and the French, and commanded a regiment of provincial 
troops stationed at Fort Herkimer. His regiment formed a 
part of Bradstreet's expedition against Fort Frontenac, and 
he was present at the capture of that post. His two sons, 
James and George, served in the same campaign, the one as a 
captain and the other as a lieutenant. After the close of hostili- 
ties, Charles Clinton was for many years Judge of the Court 
of Common Pleas. He was an ardent sympatliizer with his 
adopted countiy in the controversy with Great Britain, and died 
in 1773, just on the eve of the Revolution. On his death-bed 
he charged his sons "to stand by the liberties of their coun- 
try." 

George Clinton, the second son of this worthy sire, was 
born at the family seat in Ulster County, New York, on the 
26th of July, 1739. He received a fair education, and having 
manifested a desire for the profession of the law, began the 
study of it at an early age. Before he had been long engaged 
in his studies, however, he laid aside his books to accept a 
lieutenant's commission in the force raised in New York to 

(362) 



GEORGE CLINTON. 363 

operate against the French and Indians. He took part in the 
campaign which resulted in the capture of Fort Frontenac ; 
and two years later served under Amherst at the capture of 
M itreal. In the latter year (1760), when but twenty-one 
years old, he distinguished himself in an engagement on the 
St. Lawrence, when with four gunboats he captured a French 
brig of eighteen guns after a severe engagement. 

Upon the return of peace George Clinton went back to the 
study of the law, placing himself under the tuition of Chief Jus- 
tice Smith. One of his fellow-students was Governeur Morris. 
He passed the next two or three years in study, and then en- 
tered upon the practice of his profession. He was not to con- 
tinue it in peace, for in 1765 the passage of the Stamp Act 
joined the issue squarely between the Colonies and Great 
Britain. 

Clinton promptly espoused the cause of his countiy. He 
was quick and ardent in his nature, and firm in his opinions 
He believed that the controversy with the Mother Country 
would require the best services of every true American, and 
he relinquished his hopes of gaining a fortune by his profes- 
sion to devote himself to the defence of the liberties of Amer- 
ica. He was elected to the Assembly of New York, in which 
he soon took rank as one of its most gifted and patriotic mem- 
bers. He was prompt in the discussion of the hostile measures 
of the British Government, and firm in the defense of the 
rights of his country. He was a man of pure life, and was 
greatly beloved by the Whig or Patriot party, of which he was 
the acknowledged leader. 

In 1775 he was elected a delegate from New York to the 
Continental Congress. In that body he was an advocate of 
decisive measures, and was a worthy co-worker with the 
Adamses, the Lees, and the determined minority of patriots 
who were resolved that the freedom of the country should be 
established. He warmly supported the proposal for a Declara- 
tion of Independence, and cast his vote for that measure when 
it was put on its final passage in Congress. He was deprived 
of the pleasure of signing the Declaration, as he was com- 
pelled to hasten away from Philadelphia the moment his vote 
was given. He had been appointed a Brigadier-General in the 



364 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

provincial forces of New York, and the necessities of the mili- 
tary situation required his immediate presence in the field. 

Hastening from Congress to New York, which was then 
held by the Americans, General Clinton proceeded from that 
city to New Windsor, in Ulster County, just above the High- 
lands. Some months before, Washington had caused two 
works to be erected in the Highlands for the purpose of holding 
the river against the enemy. These were Fort Montgomery 
and Fort Constitution. The former was situated on the west 
bank of the river, north of the Dunderberg, and opposite the 
promontory of Anthony's Nose. Fort Constitution was situated 
six miles higher up the river, "on a rocky island of the same 
name, at a narrow strait where the Hudson, shouldered by 
precipices, makes a sudden bend round West Point." The 
forts were garrisoned by five companies of the regiment of 
Colonel James Clinton, the elder brother of the subject of this 
memoir, who was placed by Washington in command of both 
posts. 

The command of General George Clinton embraced the 
militia of the counties of Ulster and Orange, a region in which 
his influence was all-powerful. He was fully alive to the im- 
portance of holding the Highlands against the enemy, and 
during the war remained the constant and sleepless guardian 
of this important region, the loss of which would have broken 
the communication between the Eastern and Southern States, 
and would have been well nigh, if not entirely, fatal to tlie 
cause. 

On the 1 2th of July, 1776, two British ships of war left their 
anchorage in New York Bay, and passing the batteries of the 
city, and at Paulus Hook on the Jersey shore, ascended the 
Hudson. Washington, fearful that their object might be to 
capture the yet unfinished works in the Highlands, sent off an 
express to Gen. Clinton, urging him to call out the militia for 
their defense. Clinton did not receive the letter until the 14th. 
On the morning of the 13th he was notified of the approach 
of the enemy by an alarm gun from Fort Constitution, and a 
little later was informed by the captains of two river sloops 
that the enemy had attacked New York and were ascending 
the river with their ships. Clinton at once summoned the 



GEORGE CLINTON. 365 

militia to arms, and they responded with a will to his sum- 
mons. One regiment was sent to each of the forts, and a 
third was held in reserve at Newburgh. All the other regi- 
ments under his command were ordered to be ready for instant 
service. He also collected a number of river craft with which 
to obstruct the river at Fort Constitution. He then hastened 
to that work, and after a conference with his brother, repaired 
to Fort Montgomery, where he fixed his headquarters on the 
night of the 13th, well satisfied with his day's work. The 
next morning he received Washington's letter. The instruc- 
tions of the Commander-in-Chief had been anticipated. Early 
on the morning of the 14th, two fresh regiments arrived at 
Fort Montgomery, and reported parts of two other regiments 
on the march. Clinton had roused the whole country. 

The enemy's ships ascended the river to Haverstraw Bay, 
where they lay for several weeks, taking soundings of the 
river, and frequently shifting their anchorage to avoid the fire 
of the Americans from the shore. Clinton continued his 
preparations for disputing the passage of the Highlands. A 
chain was to be stretched across the river from Fort Mont- 
gomery to Anthony's Nose, and the channel was to be ob- 
structed by sinking vessels in it. Fire-ships were prepared, 
and a number of row-galleys armed with nine-pounders col- 
lected. These galleys, early in August, made an attack upon 
the British vessels, and, though compelled to retreat, infllicted 
considerable damage upon them. The whole country along 
the Hudson was in arms, and the most enthusiastic spirit was 
everywhere displayed. About the middle of August an at- 
tempt was made to destroy the Phoenix and Rose by means of 
fire-ships, and came near succeeding. The British vessels at 
once dropped down the Hudson and rejoined the fleet in the 
bay, suffering considerably from the fire of the American bat- 
teries on their way down the river. 

As soon as relieved of his anxiety for the safety of the High- 
lands, Washington ordered General Clinton to leave a sufificient 
force there, under his brother, and to join him with the rest of 
his command at King's Bridge. Clinton at once obeyed the 
order, and took part in the campaign which followed the evacu- 
ation of New York. His idea of war was " straightforward 



366 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

fighting," and his patience was sorely tried by the cautious 
strategy by which Washington outgeneraled Sir William Howe 
and saved his army. 

Upon transferring the bulk of his army to the west side of 
the Hudson, Washington sent Clinton and his militia back to 
the Highlands to keep watch over them, and directed General 
Heath, with his brigade of Connecticut and Massachusetts 
troops, to co-operate with him. Heath took position at Peek- 
skill at the entrance of the Highlands, and Clinton repaired to 
the forts higher up the river. He remained there during the 
trying retreat of the army across New Jersey, full of the keenest 
apprehension for the safety of the river. His fears were at 
length relieved by the victories of Trenton and Princeton, and 
the occupation by the army of the position near Morristown. 

In 1777 General Clinton was commissioned a Brigadier- 
general in the Continental army, at the urgent request of the 
Convention of New York. He was continued in his command 
of the Highland forts, with his headquarters at New Windsor. 
" My precarious state of health," he wrote to Washington upon 
the receipt of his new commission, " and my want of military 
knowledge, would have rather induced me to have led a more 
retired life than that of the army, had I been consulted on the 
occasion ; but as, early in the present contest, I laid it down as 
a maxim not to refuse my best, though poor services, to my 
country, in any way they should think proper to employ 
me, I cannot refuse the honor done me in the present appoint- 
ment." 

" He was perfectly sincere in what he said," says Irving. 
" George Clinton was one of those soldiers of the Revolution 
who served from a sense of duty, not from military inclination 
or a thirst of glory. A long career of public service in various 
capacities illustrated his modest worth and devoted patriotism." 

On the 23d of March, 1777, the enemy sent an expedition 
up the Hudson and captured Peekskill, where a considerable 
quantity of stores was destroyed by them. The New York 
Convention ordered Clinton to call out the militia of the sur- 
rounding country, and he exerted himself to strengthen the 
obstructions to the river at Fort Montgomery. In May the 
Highland forts were inspected by Generals Greene, Knox, Mc- 



GEORGE CLINTON. 36/ 

Dougall and Wayne, by order of General Washington. These 
officers approved Clinton's measures for obstructing the river, 
and advised the completion of the obstructions. 

In April, 1777, the Convention of New York adopted a State 
Constitution, and at the first election under it George Clinton 
was chosen Governor of New York. He was regularly re- 
elected for eighteen years, filling the longest term of office 
ever held by any of the Chief Magistrates of the Empire State. 
He continued to hold his command of the Highland forts, and 
at the same time to discharge his duties as Governor of New 
York. Washington was well pleased when informed of Clin- 
ton's determination to continue in the field. "There cannot 
be a more proper man on every account," he wrote. Clinton 
kept a vigilant eye upon the Hudson during Burgoyne's inva- 
sion. The chief command of the Highland region was held 
by General Putnam, but he stood ready to move with the 
militia to the assistance of the latter whenever summoned. 

It was the intention of Sir Henry Clinton to force his way 
through the Highlands and reach Albany, from which point he 
expected to cooperate with Burgoyne in the subjugation of 
New York. In the autumn of 1777, he was reinforced by 
2,000 fresh troops from England, and at once entered upon the 
execution of his plan. A force of about 4,000 men, with ar- 
tillery, was embarked, and about the 1st of October, Clinton 
began his ascent of the Hudson. 

The Highland defences consisted of Forts Montgomery, 
Clinton and Constitution. Fort Clinton had been erected 
within rifle range of Fort Montgomery, and on a point which 
commanded that work. It was complete, while Fort Mont- 
gomery was still unfinished. The garrisons of the two forts 
did not exceed six hundred men. The obstructions in the 
river had been seriously weakened by the pressure of the tide, 
but were believed to be sufficient. Two frigates and two 
armed galleys were anchored above them. 

On the 5th of September Sir Henry Clinton reached Ver- 
planck's Point, where he landed his troops. He completely de- 
ceived Putnam into believing that his object was to attack 
Peekskill and Fort Independence. Putnam took position in 
the rear of Peekskill to resist him, and sent to Governor Clin- 



368 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ton for all the militia he could spare. Having outwitted Put- 
nam, Sir Henry Clinton crossed his troops to the west side of 
the Hudson under the cover of a heavy fog, on the morning 
of the 6th of October, and dividing them into two columns, set 
off through the mountain passes to surprise Forts Montgomery 
and Clinton, and carry them by a coup dc main. He found the 
Governor more vigilant than Putnam. Governor Clinton, upon 
the approach of the enemy's ships, had thrown his scouts out 
beyond the Dunderberg to watch their movements. Early on 
the morning of the 6th, he was informed of the landing of the 
British at Stony Point, and at once penetrated their design. 
He prepared to defend the forts to the last extremity, and 
despatched a messenger to Putnam for assistance. The mes- 
senger turned traitor, and deserted to the enemy, and Putnam 
knew nothing of the attack upon the forts until it was decided. 

Several detached parties with a field-piece were thrown out 
to check the advance of the British, but were driven in by the 
enemy after a sharp encounter. By four o'clock in the after- 
noon the Americans were driven within their works, and both 
forts were attacked. They were defended with spirit, for Gov- 
ernor Clinton meant to hold on to them as long as he could, 
and, ignorant of the treachery of his messenger, still had hopes 
of aid from Putnam. At five o'clock he was summoned by the 
British commander to surrender in five minutes. He refused 
to comply with the demand, and both forts were simultaneously 
assaulted. The battle continued until dark, the British ships, 
which had ascended the river, joining in it. The defense of 
the forts was desperate, but the garrison was too small to man 
such extensive works, and the enemy entered them at several 
points and carried them with the bayonet. Every inch of 
ground was stubbornly contested ; the Americans fought from 
redoubt to redoubt, losing heavily in killed and wounded. 
"The garrison," said the Governor bluntly, "had to fight their 
way out as many as could, for we had determined not to sur- 
render." By dark the works were in full possession of the 
enemy, the garrison having retreated to the river and to the 
mountains. 

Gen. James Clinton, the brother of the Governor, was 
wounded, and in this condition slid down a precipice one hun- 



GEORGE CLINTON. 369 

dred feet high into a ravine between the forts and escaped 
The Governor sprang down the rocks to the river, which he 
reached just as a boat was putting off with a number of the 
fugitives. They returned to the shore to take him on board, 
but he generously refused to enter the boat until assured that 
it would bear his additional weight. The party then crossed 
to the opposite shore, and the Governor hastened to join Put- 
nam, who was at Continental village. Putnam had been 
informed of Sir Henry's true intention by the firing at the 
forts, and had despatched reinforcements, but they came too 
late to take part in the fight, and were forced to retreat. The 
defense of the Highland forts reflected great credit upon their 
commander and his troops, and it is acknowledged by British 
writers that the Americans never showed greater resolution and 
gallantry in any engagement of the war. The enemy's loss 
was heavy, amounting to 250 killed, wounded, and missing. 

The capture of the forts was followed by the removal of the 
obstructions from the river. Nothing lay now between the 
British and Albany ; but the news of Burgoyne's surrender, 
which reached the enemy shortly after, caused them to blo\v 
up the captured forts and retreat down the river to New York, 
after devastating and plundering the country along the Hudson. 

Governor Clinton continued to keep guard over the High- 
lands until the presence of the main body of the American 
army in that region, in the latter years of the war, rendered 
such an effort on his part unnecessary. He gave a hearty 
support to the measures of Washington, and exerted himself 
to keep New York true to her duty of sustaining the army in 
the great struggle. Washington cordially testified to the en- 
ergy and value of his assistance during the war. Upon the 
evacuation of the city of New York by the British, on the 
25th of November, 1783, Governor Clinton entered the city at 
the head of the American troops, and took possession of it 
in the name of the State of New York. 

Governor Clinton was elected to the State Convention which 
ratified the Constitution of the United States, and gave his 
earnest support to the adoption of that instrument by the 
State. 

Acting in his official capacity, he received Washington upon 
24 



370 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

his arrival in New York as President elect, and entertained him 
at dinner that day. 

When the people of the Union were divided by the political 
quarrels of the administrations of Washington and Adams into 
the Federalist and Republican parties, Governor Clinton's sym- 
pathies and convictions allied him with the latter. In 1804, 
upon the reelection of .Mr. Jefferson, he was chosen Vice- 
President of the United States, and was again elected to that 
position, under Mr. Madison as President, in 1808. He sup- 
ported the policy of the Republican party with great earnest- 
ness, ably seconding Jefferson and Madison to bring back the 
Government to its true standard of Republican simplicity. 

He died in Washington on the 20th of April, 18 12, in the 
73d year of his age, sincerely lamented by the whole country. 




JOHN HANCOCK. 

JOHN HANCOCK was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, 
in the year 1737. He received a common school educa- 
tion, after which he was sent to Harvard College, where he 
graduated in 1754. He then entered the counting house of 
his uncle, Thomas Hancock, a prominent merchant of Boston, 
who died some years later, leaving him the heir of his fortune 
and his successor in business. Mr. Hancock thus became one 
of the leading merchants of Boston. He w^as exceedingly 
prosperous in his business, and greatly increased the fortune 
he had inherited from his uncle. 

He took a prominent part in the public measures of the 
times, and was for several years Selectman of the town. He 
earnestly opposed the Stamp Act, as violative of the rights of 
the Colonies, and gave to Samuel Adams and his fellow- 
patriots his hearty cooperation, assisting the Colonial cause 
wnth his wealth, as well as by his services. In 1766, the year 
of the repeal of the Stamp Act, he was elected to the Assem- 
bly as a representative from Boston, and held that position 
until the commencement of the war. 

Mr. Hancock's cooperation was of the greatest service to 
the patriots at this time. He was one of the most popular 
and influential citizens of Boston, and his name was sure to 
carry weight with it in any cause he might espouse. He was 
one of the solid men of the city, and it gave people confidence 
in the patriot cause to see Hancock risk his great wealth in it. 

Hancock was very much pleased with the popularity he 
enjoyed. He was a handsome man, of attractive appearance, 
graceful and engaging in manner, and veiy fond of social 
pleasures. He was much addicted to lavish display, and 
dressed richly, conducted his household upon an elaborate and 
ostentatious plan, and his splendid coach was usually drawn 
by six handsome bays, and was attended by servants in showy 
liveries Beneath all these foibles, however, lay a rich, gencr- 

(371 ) 



3/2 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ous heart, quick to sympathize with and ready to reheve mis- 
fortune. His loyalty to his country's cause was deep and true, 
and he was justly regarded as one of the most trustworthy 
leaders of the patriot party of Boston. He did not possess 
the far-seeing wisdom of Samuel Adams, and to the last hoped 
that an accommodation might be had with the Mother Coun- 
try. He deprecated what he regarded as the rashness of 
Adams in forcing the controversy to a definite issue; but he 
w^as as much determined as Adams himself to sustain the 
cause of freedom with his life and fortune when the crisis did 
come. His sentiments, and his activity in sustaining the mea- 
sures of resistance, were well known to the Royalist authori- 
ties of the Province, and he was classed by them with Samuel 
Adams, as one of the most dangerous and resolute of the 
patriot leaders. He was chosen captain of the Boston Cadets, 
a volunteer company, composed of the elite of the young men 
of the city. They were in full sympathy with him in his po- 
litical opinions, and sustained him in his refusal to order them. 
on escort duty at the general election in the spring of 1768. 
This, together with his open and repeated denunciations of the 
Revenue Acts, increased the hatred with which the Royalist 
officials regarded him. 

The Commissioners of Customs, in order to annoy him, 
accused him of having made a false entry of the cargo of his 
sloop, named Liberty. The vessel had recently come in from 
a voyage with a cargo of Madeira wine, and had discharged 
her cargo, had taken in another, and was about to sail on a 
new voyage, when on the loth of June, 1768, she was seized by 
the Commissioners on the pretext mentioned above. " The 
collector thought she might remain at Hancock's wharf after 
she had received the broad arrow ; but the Comptroller had 
concerted to moor her under the guns of the Romney, which 
lay a quarter of a mile off, and ' made a signal for the man-of- 
war's boats to come ashore.' 

"'You had better let the vessel lie at the wharf,' said Mal- 
colm to the officer. ' I shall not,' answered Hallowell, the 
Comptroller, and gave directions to cut the fasts. ' Stop, at 
least, till the owner comes/ said the people who crowded 
round. ' No, damn you,' cried Hallowell, ' cast her off.' ' I'll 



JOHN HANCOCK. 373 

split out the brains of any man that offers to reeve a fast, or 
stop the vessel,' said the master of the Romney ; and he 
shouted to the marines to fire. 'What rascal is that, who dares 
to tell the marines to fire ?' cried a Bostoneer ; and turning 
to Harrison, the Collector, a well-meaning man, who disap- 
proved of the violent manner of the seizure, he added, ' The 
owner has been sent for ; you had better let the vessel lie at 
the wharf till he conies down.' ' No, she shall go,' insisted the 
Comptroller ; ' and show me the man who dares oppose it.' 
' Kill the damned scoundrel,' cried the Master. ' We will 
throw the people from the Romney overboard,' said Malcolm, 
stung with anger. * By God, she shall go,' repeated the Mas- 
ter, and he more than once called to the marines, 'Why don't 
you fire ?' and ' bade them fire.' So they cut her moorings, 
and with ropes in the barges, the sloop was towed away to the 
Romney. 

" A crowd ' of boys and negroes' gathered at the heels of the 
Custom House officers, and threw stones, bricks and dirt at 
them, alarming them, but doing no serious mischief; and 
while Samuel Adams, Hancock, and Warren, with others, 
were deliberating what was to be done, a mob broke the win- 
dows in the house of the Comptroller and of an Inspector, and 
failing to find a boat belonging to the Romney, seized on the 
Collector's pleasure boat, dragged it in triumph to Boston 
Common, and burnt it. After this, at about one o'clock, they 
dispersed, and the town resumed its quiet." 

The Governor and the Commissioners made this affair a pre- 
text for bringing British troops to Boston. Hancock and the 
other patriot leaders advised that the introduction of the troops 
be met with a refusal to provide them with quarters or any of 
the articles required from the people by the Act of Parliament. 
When the troops arrived, the Commissioners of Customs grati- 
fied their malice against Hancock and Malcolm by arresci ng 
them upon charges which were so frivolous that they could not 
be proved. The prisoners were released on bail, and the pros- 
ecution ended in a miserable failure. In May, 1769, Hancock 
was again returned to the Assembly by an almost unanimous 
vote, and was instructed, together with his colleagues, by the 
town of Boston, to insist upon the removal of the British 



374 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

troops, and not to pay anything toward their support. He 
formed one of the Committee, of which Samuel Adams was the 
head, which demanded of Governor Hutchinson the withdrawal 
of the troops from the town after the Boston massacre, and was 
fully prepared to go to the extent of blows in case of a refusal 
of the demand. 

Yet, all this while, he hoped that the British Government 
would see the folly of its course, and agree to treat the Colo- 
nies with justice ; and he hoped that a peaceful and honorable 
settlement of the quarrel might be effected. This feeling in- 
duced him to decline to serve on the Boston Committee of 
Correspondence, which was established by the efforts of Sam- 
uel Adams. He regarded that measure as too bold and re- 
volutionary, and he was averse to such extreme steps as long 
as a chance of settlement remained. He subsequently took an 
active part in this Committee. He was a prime mover in the 
resistance to the introduction of the taxed tea in 1773, and was 
the moderator of the town meeting held at Faneuil Hall on 
the 5th of November, to concert measures for that purpose. 
On Sunday the 28th of November, the Dartmouth, the first 
of the tea ships, arrived. On the next day a town meeting, at- 
tended by the largest concourse ever assembled in Boston, was 
held at the Old South Church, and it was resolved that the 
tea should be sent back to England without being landed. 
It was ordered that a watch should be set over the ship dur- 
ing the night, and Hancock, who had taken a prominent part 
in the meeting, volunteered to become one of the party for that 
purpose. " I should be willing to spend my fortune and life 
itself in so good a cause," he said the next day. In the events 
of the 1 6th of December, he was a prominent actor, cordially 
cooperating with Samuel Adams and others. He encouraged 
the people to undertake the destruction of the tea, and accom- 
panied them to the wharf where the vessels lay and cheered 
them on in the patriotic task. 

His course in this affair greatly surprised Governor Hutch- 
inson, who had supposed that the great wealth of Hancock 
would render him timid, and make him shrink from active re- 
sistance. Hutchinson never comprehended the true character 
of the patriot leaders, who were resolved to risk both fortune 
and life in the attempt to maintain their rights as freemen. 



JOHN HANCOCK. 375 

On the ist of September, 1774, General Gage, who had suc- 
ceeded Hutchinson as Governor of Massachusetts, issued writs 
for the election of an Assembly to meet at Salem in October. 
Alarmed by the aspect of affairs, he subsequently counter- 
manded his order, but the election was held in spite of his pro- 
hibition, and ninety of the new members thus elected met at 
Salem at t^e appinted time. After waiting a day for the Gov- 
ernor to attend, administer the oaths, and open the session, they 
organized themselves as a Provincial Congress, and elected 
John Hancock President, after which they adjourned to Con- 
cord, and quietly assumed the supreme direction of the Pro- 
vince, Gage's authority being at an end beyond the lines of 
Boston. Hancock had taken a long step forward, for the meet- 
ing of this Congress was Revolution in its broadest sense. 

Towards the close of 1774, he was elected a delegate to the 
Continental Congress, which was to reassemble at Philadelphia 
in the following May, 

General Gage had orders from the British Government to 
arrest and bring to punishment the leaders of the Patriot party 
in Massachusetts, and Samuel Adams and John Hancock were 
particularly designated as the objects of the Ministerial ven- 
geance. Gage feared to put his orders into execution at once, 
but watched for an opportunity to arrest Hancock and Adams, 
and those gentlemen deemed it best to remain away from Bos- 
ton. As has been stated elsewhere, one of the objects of the 
expedition of the British to Lexington and Concord was the 
arrest of Hancock and Adams, who were lodging at Lexing- 
ton. They were warned of their danger on the morning of 
the 19th of April, 1775, and escaped to Woburn. An hour or 
two later the fight at Lexington began the Revolution. 

When the Second Continental Congress reassembled at 
Philadelphia, in May, 1775, Mr. Hancock took his seat in that 
body as a delegate from Massachusetts. Peyton Randolph, 
the President, having been recalled to Virginia, Congress, on 
the 24th of IMay, by a unanimous vote, elected John Hancock 
its President. Its action was significant of its determination to 
sustain Massachusetts in the quarrel with England. He was 
conducted to the chair by Mr. Harrison, of Virginia, who said 
"We will show Britain how much we value her proscriptions.' 



3/6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

Mr. Hancock was well fitted for his new position by the ex- 
perience he had acquired as Moderator of the town meetings 
of Boston, and in the Presidency of the Provincial Congress 
of Massachusetts ; and the elegance and dignity of his man- 
ners enabled him to fill the post now assigned him with grace- 
ful ease. 

On the 1 2th of June, General Gage issued a proclamation 
offering pardon and protection to all the people of Massachusetts 
who would seek the protection of the King. From this offer 
Samuel Adams and John Hancock were specially exempted by 
name, and it was declared that they were reserved for con- 
dign punishment as rebels and traitors. 

In December, 1775, when the siege of Boston had dragged 
through many weary months without any apparent prospect 
of success, Washington addressed to Congress a letter upon 
the propriety of bombarding the city. The letter was read in 
Congress, with Mr. Hancock in the chair. A solemn silence 
ensued, and at length a member rose and proposed that the 
subject be considered by the House in Committeeof the whole, 
in order that Mr. Hancock, who was so deeply concerned, in 
consequence of having all his estate in Boston, might give his 
opinion of the measure. The House thereupon resolved itself 
into a Committee of the whole, and Mr. Hancock, having left 
the chair, spoke as follows: "It is true, sir, nearly all the 
property I have in the world is in houses and other real estate 
in the town of Boston; but if the expulsion of the British army 
from it, and the liberties of our country, require their being 
burnt to ashes, issue the orders for that purpose immediately." 
Congress authorized Washington to conduct the siege as in 
his judgment should seem best, with the single object of ex- 
pelling the British army, regardless of the fate of Boston. In 
communicating these instructions to Washington, Hancock 
wrote to him : " May God crown your attempt with success. 
I most heartily wish it, though individually I may be the great- 
est sufferer." 

Mr. Hancock supported the proposition for a Declaration of 
Independence. He had become convinced that all hope of an 
honorable settlement with England was at an end, and that the 
Colonies must choose between independence and slavery. His 




INDEPENDENCE HALL 



JOHN HANCOCK. 377 

magnificent signature appears at the head of the Signers of the 
Declaration ; and it is related that when he had affixed it to 
the paper, he said with a smile, as he laid down the pen, 
" There, John Bull may read my name without spectacles." 

In 1779 Mr. Hancock resigned his seat in Congress. He 
was elected to the Convention which formed the first; State 
Constitution of Massachusetts, and in 1780, was elected the 
first Governor of the State. He was annually chosen to this 
position until 1785, when he declined a reelection. He was 
succeeded by the Hon. James Bowdoin, during whose admin- 
istration Shays' Rebellion occurred. The Governor did all 
that could be done to put down the trouble, but his course 
failed to give satisfaction to the people, and the next year 
Mr. Hancock was again chosen Governor of the State. 

He was a delegate to the Convention which ratified the Fed- 
eral Constitution. The opposition to the Constitution was 
very great in Massachusetts, and it was claimed that the Gov- 
ernor was of this party. He was chosen President of the 
Convention, but did not attend its sessions until during the last 
week. He then threw the whole of his influence in favor of 
the ratification of the Constitution with certain amendments, 
and aided in securing its adoption by the State. 

About two or three years before the outbreak of the Revo- 
lution, Mr. Hancock married Miss Quincy, the daughter of a 
prominent citizen of Boston. She bore him a son, who died in 
his youth. Having no children to inherit his fortune, he be- 
stowed a large part of his wealth upon charitable and benevo- 
lent objects. He gave liberally to Harvard College, which to 
this day counts him among its chief benefactors. 

On the 8th of October, 1793, Mr. Hancock died suddenly at 
his residence in Boston, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. His 
body lay in state for several days, and his funeral was con- 
ducted with great pomp, amid the sincere regret of the people 
of Boston, to many of whom he had proved a kind and liberal 
friend. 



CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY. 

/^HARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY was born at 
V^ Charleston, South Carolina, in February, 1746. He was 
sent to England at an early age to receive his intellectual train- 
ing, and was educated at the Westminster School, after which 
he spent several years at the University of Oxford. In both 
institutions he was highly esteemed for his personal character, 
as well as for his proficiency in his studies. Upon leaving 
Oxford, he read law at the Temple, and in 1769, at the age of 
twenty-three, returned to South Carolina, and began the prac- 
tice of his profession. 

He returned home in the midst of the controversy between 
the Colonies and Great Britain, and at once entered into it 
with ardor on the side of his native country. His residence in 
England had taught him that the safety of the Colonies lay in 
firm, uncompromising action, and he was always an advocate 
of the boldest measures. At the outbreak of hostilities, he 
was one of the first to volunteer for the defence of his Province, 
and was commissioned a captain in the forces of South Caro- 
lina, and soon after received the same rank in the Continental 
line. Somewhat later he was made Colonel of the first regi- 
ment of South Carolina infantry. During the defense of Fort 
Moultrie, his regiment was stationed at Fort Johnson, from 
which he witnessed, but took no part in the gallant resistance 
of his countrymen to the British fleet. 

Seeing no prospect of active service in the South, Colonel 
Pinckney hastened to the North, and, joining the army of Wash- 
ington, was appointed an aide-de-camp to the Commander-in- 
chief In this capacity he served through the campaign of 
1777, and was present at the battles of the Brandywine and 
Germantown. 

The fall of Savannah and the gathering of a British army in 
the South, induced him to return to South Carolina in 1778 

378 



CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY. 379 

His regiment formed a part of the little army of General Lin- 
coln. In the spring of 1779, a considerable detachment of 
Lincoln's army was defeated by a British force under Colonel 
Campbell, and the British General Prevost, encouraged by this 
success, moved from Savannah to Charleston, in the hope of 
compelling the city to surrender before the American army, 
which was in a distant part of the State, could arrive to its as- 
sistance. As soon as Lincoln heard of this movement, he set 
out for Charleston, and by a forced march, in which his army 
suffered considerably from fatigue and sickness, arrived before 
Charleston and compelled Prevost to fall back from that city. 
In this march Colonel Pinckney greatly distinguished himself 
He acquired still greater distinction by his gallant conduct in 
the unfortunate attack upon Savannah in September, 1779. 

Upon the approach of the British fleet under Admiral Ar- 
buthnot and the army under Sir Henry Clinton, Colonel 
Pinckney was placed in command of Fort Moultrie. By care- 
ful soundings the British Admiral discovered that he could 
force his way by Fort Moultrie and enter the harbor without 
being obliged to reduce that work ; and early in April he 
stood into the harbor with seven ships of war and two trans- 
ports. Colonel Pinckney opened a heavy fire upon the vessels 
from Fort Moultrie, but was not able to turn back the British 
ships, which passed the batteries, entered the harbor, and 
anchored just out of range of the American guns. Fort Moul- 
trie was now useless, and Colonel Pinckney withdrew a part 
of the garrison and threw himself with it into Charleston, to 
aid in the defence of that city. Clinton pressed the siege of 
the city with vigor, and the garrison was soon reduced to ex- 
tremities. Colonel Pinckney was in favor of continuing the 
defense to the bitter end, and of compelling the enemy to 
carry the place by assault. He did not delude himself with 
the hope that they would be able to repulse the British, but 
"we shall so cripple the army before us," he said, "that although 
we may not live to enjoy the benefits ourselves, yet to the 
United States they will prove incalculably great." More pru- 
dent counsels prevailed, however, and on the 12th of May, 
1780, the city and its defenders w^ere surrendered to Sir Henry 
Clinton. Pinckney thus became a prisoner of war, and re- 
mained in captivity until the return of peace. 



380 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

After the return of peace Colonel Pinckney resumed the 
practice of his profession, and was placed in command of the 
militia of the lower districts of South Carolina. He was a 
member of the Convention of 1787 which framed the Consti- 
tution of the United States, and a member of the Convention 
of South Carolina which ratified that Constitution. In both 
these bodies he warmly advocated the adoption of the Con- 
stitution, and by his eloquent appeals and profound arguments 
in its behalf laid the foundation of his great reputation as an 
orator and a statesman. 

Upon the organization of the Federal Government under 
the Constitution, Colonel Pinckney was offered by President 
Washington, who highly esteemed his abilities, a seat on the 
Bench of the Supreme Court of the United States; but the ap- 
pointment was declined for reasons of a private nature. Upon 
the resignation of General Knox, Colonel Pinckney was urged 
by the President to enter his Cabinet as Secretary of War, 
and the post of Secretary of State was also offered him upon 
the resignation of Mr. Randolph. Both these flattering offers 
were declined for the same reasons that had compelled him to 
refuse the seat in the Supreme Court. 

In 1796, having come to the conclusion that the interests of 
the country required the recall of Mr. Monroe from France, 
President Washington appointed Colonel Pinckney to succeed 
Monroe as Minister Plenipotentiary to the French Republic. 
This appointment was made in July, 1796, and was accepted 
by Colonel Pinckney, who promptly sailed for Europe. He 
reached Paris after the retirement of Washington from the 
Presidency. 

Colonel Pinckney was a member of the Federalist party, 
Mr. Monroe a Republican. The Federalists were regarded by 
the French Government in the light of enemies, while the Re- 
publicarts were considered friends. The Directory took leave 
of Mr. Monroe with great cordiality when he went to announce 
his recall. Pinckney presented himself a few days later, as the 
successor of Mr. Monroe. The Directory refused to receive 
him, as they had some time before announced their intention 
not to receive any new Minister from the United States until 
the American Republic had redressed the grievances of which 



CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY. 38 1 

the French Government had complained. We have already, 
in another part of this work, discussed the causes of the quar- 
rel between the United States and France, and have shown 
the injustice of the position assumed by the Directory. We 
need not reopen the question here. While Mr, Pinckney was 
considering what course to pursue in consequence of the re- 
fusal of the French Government to receive him, his conduct 
was decided for him by a peremptory order from the Directory 
to quit the French territory immediately. He accordingly 
withdrew to Holland to await the orders of his Government. 

President Adams having resolved to attempt a settlement of 
the dispute with France by negotiation, associated John Mar- 
shall and Elbridge Gerry with Colonel Pinckney as envoys ex- 
traordinary to the French Republic, with orders "to dissipate 
umbrages, remove prejudices, rectify errors, and adjust all 
difficulties by a treaty between the two powers." 

The three envoys met at Paris on the 4th of October, 1797, 
and made their business known to the French Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, the famous Talleyrand. He at first refused 
to receive them in an official capacity, and afterwards employed 
secret agents to communicate with them, in order that he might 
be free to disavow any engagement entered into with them. 
It soon transpired that the object of these secret interviews 
was to extort money from the United States. The Commis- 
sioners were given to understand that if they would pay Tal- 
leyrand a certain sum of money for the use of himself and 
the Directory, and would pledge the United States to make a 
loan to France, negotiations would be begun without delay. 
The answer of the American Commissioners was well ex- 
pressed in the indignant words of Pinckney: "Millions for 
defence, not one cent for tribute." The secret agent insisted 
on this point, and the Commissioners replied, " We will not 
give you one farthing; and before coming here, we should 
have thought such an offer as you now propose, would have 
been regarded as a mortal insult." Pinckney and Marshall 
were ordered to quit France at once; but Mr. Gerry was in- 
vited to remain and negotiate a treaty. He failed to accom- 
plish anything. Marshall left France on the i6th of April, 
1798; Gerry on the 26th of July. Colonel Pinckney was 



382 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

detained by the illness of his daughter, and did not take his 
departure until later in the year. He reached the United 
States in October, 1798. 

Before his arrival the Federal Government had begun its 
preparations for war with France, and he had been appointed 
one of the three Major-generals in the army to be raised 
under the Acts of Congress. He was placed second on the 
list, and was thus made subordinate to Hamilton, who had 
been his inferior in rank in the Revolution. Knox resented 
the appointment of Hamilton and Pinckney over him, and re- 
fused to accept the commission tendered him. Some of Pinck- 
ney's friends urged him to take a similar course; but he 
answered that he had no doubt that Washington had Satisfac- 
tory reasons for placing him under Hamilton. " Let us first 
dispose of our enemies," he said; "We shall then have leisure 
to settle the questions of rank." " General Pinckney," says 
Irving, "cheerfully accepted his appointment, although placed 
under Hamilton. * * j|- -^^ls with the greatest pleasure he 
had seen that officer's name at the head of the list of Major 
generals, and applauded the discernment which placed him 
there. He regretted that General Knox had declined his ap- 
pointment, and that his feelings should be hurt by being out- 
ranked. * If the authority,' adds he, ' which appointed me to 
the rank of second major in the army, will review the arrange- 
ment, and place General Knox before me, I will neither quit 
the service nor be dissatisfied. ' " 

Fortunately the services of neither of the generals were re- 
quired. The quarrel was settled by negotiation, as we have 
related elsewhere, and the country was spared a vexatious and 
exhausting war. 

Returning to South Carolina, General Pinckney devoted 
himself to the practice of his profession, in which he was very 
successful, and was enabled to acquire a comfortable fortune 
sufficient to allow him to pass the remainder of his days in 
ease. In 1 804 he was the candidate of the Federalist party for 
the Vice-Presidency of the United States. Hamilton, in his 
determination to be revenged upon Mr. Adams for preventing 
the war with France, and so putting an end to all his ambi- 
tious hopes, exerted all his great power and influence to in- 



CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY. 383 

duce the Federalists to throw Mr. Adams overboard, and cast 
their votes in favor of General Pinckney, whom he thus 
hoped to make President. Had his plan succeeded, he would 
have saved his party and gratified his revenge. The result 
was that he destroyed the Federalist party and elected Mr. 
Jefferson. 

The remainder of General Pinckney's life was chiefly de- 
voted to his private affairs. He did not cease to take a deep 
interest in the concerns of his country, and devoted himself 
with especial earnestness to the advancement of the interests 
of his native State. He was possessed of a fine education, and 
his literary attainments were extensive. Knowing the value of 
knowledge, his efforts to promote the cause of learning in his 
State were unceasing. Everything that could better the State 
found a ready and constant friend in him. As a lawyer he was 
noted for the ingenuity, strength and profundity of his reason- 
ing, and the accuracy and wide range of his learning. " In his 
practice he was high-minded and liberal, never receiving any 
compensation from the widow and orphan." He was a sincere 
and earnest Christian, though he made no parade of his piety. 
For the last fifteen years of his life he was the President of the 
Charleston Bible Society, in which capacity he gained the 
affection and confidence of all denominations of Christians. 

He lived to see his country prosperous and powerful at home 
and respected abroad, and died at his home in Charleston, in 
August, 1825, in the eightieth year of his age. 




JOHN JAY. 

THE founder of the Jay family in this country was a Hugue- 
not, who fled from France at the revocation of the Edict 
of Nantes, and emigrated to America. He settled first in South 
Carolina, from which place he soon removed to New York. 
Peter Jay, a descendant of this Huguenot, was a merchant of 
prominence in New York, and married Mary Van Cortlandt, a 
member of the well-known family of that name. 

John Jay, the son of this worthy couple, was born in the 
city of New York on the 1 2th of December, 1745. Soon after 
his birth his father removed to his country seat near New Ro- 
chelle, on the shore of Long Island Sound, and there young 
Jay passed his childhood and a part of his youth. He was 
educated at a boarding school in the neighborhood, and by 
private tutors, and at the age of fourteen entered King's (now 
Columbia) College, at New York. He was an industrious stu- 
dent, quick to learn, and of unusual native talent. He took 
a high rank in his classes, and in 1764, at the age of nineteen, 
received his degree of Bachelor of Arts. 

Having chosen the law for his profession, he lost no time in 
beginning his studies, and two weeks after, leaving college, 
became a student in the office of Benjamin Kissam, a leading 
member of the New York bar. Lindley Murray, the gramma- 
rian, was a fellow-pupil. In his Autobiography, he thus speaks 
of Jay at this period of his life : "His talents and virtues gave, 
at this period, pleasing indication of future eminence ; he was 
remarkable for strong reasoning powers, comprehensive views, 
indefatigable application, and uncommon firmness of mind." 

Mr. Jay's legal studies were ended in 1768, and in that year 
he was admitted to the bar, and forming a partnership with 
Robert R. Livingston, afterwards the Chancellor of the State 
of New York, began the practice of his profession. He was 
successful from the first, and was soon in possession of an 
amount of business which yielded him a comfortable income. 

(384) 



JOHN JAY. 385 

In 1774 he married Sally, the daughter of William Livingston, 
afterwards and for many years Governor of New Jersey. 

The controversy with the Mother Country was now at its 
height, and Mr. Jay could not avoid being drawn into it. He 
was sincerely attached to his country, and warmly sympathized 
with her in her troubles. His connections were entirely with 
the aristocratic class of New York, and he naturally desired a 
continuance of the connection between the Colonies and Great 
Britain. He was keenly alive to the injustice with which the 
former were treated by the British Government, and had no 
wish to continue the connection on terms inconsistent with the 
honor and freedom of his native country. He cordially ap- 
proved of the efforts of the Colonies to obtain redress of their 
grievances, but discountenanced all measures that seemed to 
have for their object a final separation of the Colonies from 
Great Britain. He was one of the last to give up the hope of 
a peaceful and honorable settlement. 

In May, 1774, he was appointed a member of the New York 
Committee of Correspondence, and took an active part in its 
communications with the other Colonies. He warmly favored 
the proposal for the meeting of the General Congress at Phila- 
delphia, and was elected one of the delegates from New York to 
that Congress, which assembled on the 5th of September, 1774. 
In this body Mr. Jay, who was the acknowledged leader of 
the Conservative party of New York, took a prominent part. 
He was now thirty years old, and was regarded by the 
party in New York who did not desire independence as their 
mainstay. He was well qualified to be the leader of this party. 
"He joined the dignity of manhood," says Bancroft, "to the 
energy of youth. He was both shy and proud, and his pride, 
though it became less visible, suffered no diminution from 
time. Tenacious of his purposes and his opinions, sensitive to 
indignities and prone to sudden resentments, not remarkable 
for self-possession, with a countenance not trained to conceal- 
ment, neither easy of access, nor quick in his advances, gifted 
with no deep insight into character, he had neither talents nor 
inclination for intrigue ; and but for his ambition, which he 
always subjected to his sense of right, he would have seemed 
formed for study and retirement." 
25 



386 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Jay had desired the meeting of the Congress as the best 
means of uniting the Colonies in one course of action. He 
hoped that the Colonies thus united would be able to secure 
justice at the hands of Great Britain, and maintain their union 
with her. He repudiated the claim of England, that her do- 
minion over America was founded upon the discoveries of her 
subjects, and declared that Americans had a natural and un- 
alienable right to form their own governments and manage 
their institutions themselves, subject to the general authority 
of the King of England. He regarded the arbitrary acts of 
Parliament and the Ministers as unjust and destructive of the 
liberties of his country, and earnestly advocated the united re- 
sistance of the Colonies. He desired that this resistance 
should be made in the character of British subjects, and as late 
ae January, 1775, declared that he "held nothing in deeper ab- 
horrence than the malignant charge of aspiring after independ- 
ence." The idea of separating from Great Britain was painful 
to him, and he failed to comprehend the deliberate purpose of 
the King to compel his American subjects to submit abjectly 
to the loss of their liberties. 

Mr. Jay warmly supported the measures of Congress, which 
were all of a conservative nature, and prepared the Address to 
the People of Great Britain adopted by Congress, which was 
one of the ablest papers issued by that body. 

The expedition to Lexington and Concord, which showed 
too plainly to be doubted the purpose of the Ministry to dis- 
arm the Colonies, shook Mr. Jay's faith in the possibility of 
effecting a peaceful settlement ; but he was not yet ready to 
abandon the effort. On the 5th of May, 1775, the New York 
Committee addressed an appeal to the Lord Mayor and Cor- 
poration of London, and through them to the people of the 
British capital. " Born to the bright inheritance of English 
freemen," said the Committee, "the inhabitants of this exten- 
sive continent can never submit to slavery. The disposal of 
their own property with perfect spontaneity is their indefeasible 
birthright. This they are determined to defend with their 
blood, and transfer to their posterity. The present machina- 
tions of arbitrary power, if unremittedly pursued, will, by a 
fatal necessity, terminate in the dissolution of the Empire. 



JOHN JAY. 387 

This country will not be deceived by measures conciliatory in 
appearance. We cheerfully submit to a regulation of com- 
merce by the legislature of the parent State, excluding in its 
nature every idea of taxation. When our unexampled griev- 
ances are redressed, our prince will find his American subjects 
testifying by as ample aids as their circumstances will permit, 
the most unshaken fidelity to their sovereign. America is 
grown so irritable by oppression, that the least shock in any 
part is, by the most powerful sympathetic affection, instanta- 
neously felt through the whole continent. This city is as one 
man in the cause of liberty; our inhabitants are resolutely 
bent on supporting their Committee and the intended Provin- 
cial and Continental Congresses ; there is not the least doubt 
of the efficacy of their example in the other counties. In 
short, while the whole continent are ardently wishing for peace 
upon such terms as can be acceded to by Englishmen, they 
are indefatigable in preparing for the last appeal. We speak 
the real sentiments of the Confederated Colonies from Nova 
Scotia to Georgia, when we declare that all the horrors of 
civil war will never compel America to submit to taxation by 
authority of Parliament." To this appeal the name of Mr. 
Jay was signed at the head of the Committee. It well ex- 
pressed his views: he desired peace, but only " upon such terms 
as could be acceded to by Englishmen." 

Soon after the assembling of the Second Continental Con- 
gress in May, 1775, Mr. Jay, anxious to make yet another eftbrt 
for an adjustment of the quarrel, moved the adoption of a 
second petition to the King, and succeeded in carrying his 
measure through Congress. The fate of this petition, and the 
purpose of the King to employ German mercenaries to reduce 
the Colonies to submission, at length opened Mr. Jay's eyes to 
the real designs of England. He did not hesitate as to his 
course. He saw that a separation was necessary, and that the 
Colonies had been driven by the Mother Country to choose 
between independence and subjugation. As a good citizen 
and patriot he unhesitatingly threw the weight of his influence 
from this time in favor of independence. 

On the 29th of November, 1775, Mr. Jay was appointed a 
member of the Committee organized by Congress for the pur- 



388 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

pose of " Corresponding with friends in Great Britain, Ireland, 
and other parts of the world." Previous to this M. de Bon- 
vouloir, a secret agent of the French King, had visited Phila- 
delphia, and had vaguely hinted that France might help the 
Colonies under certain circumstances. The result of this hint 
was the sending of Silas Deane to Paris as the secret agent of 
the Colonies. Deane's letters were addressed to Jay, who, in 
addition to his labors in Congress, conducted this important 
correspondence in person. 

In April, 1776, Mr. Jay was elected a member of the Provin- 
cial Congress of New York, and at the urgent request of that 
body returned from Philadelphia to take part in its delibera- 
tions. He was now aware of the fate of the last petition of 
Congress, and he exerted himself to prepare New York to dis- 
charge her duty with vigor and firmness in the contest for the 
liberties of the country. He was opposed to the separate 
action of the Colonies, and earnestly desired them to present a 
solid and unbroken front to the King. "Vigor and unanimity," 
he said, "are our only means of safety." 

In June, 1776, the proposition of the Virginia Convention 
for a declaration of independence of the Mother Country was 
laid before the Congress of New York. Mr. Jay advocated 
the support of the proposal by New York. "This was the mo- 
ment," says Bancroft, "that showed the firmness and the purity 
of Jay; the darker the hour, the more he stood ready to cheer; 
the greater the danger, the more promptly he stepped forward 
to guide. He had insisted on the doubtful measure of a second 
petition to the King, with no latent weakness of purpose or 
cowardice of heart. The hope of obtaining redress was gone ; 
he could now, with perfect peace of mind, give free scope to the 
earnestness of his convictions. Though it had been necessary 
for him to perish as a martyr, he could not and he would not 
swerve from his sense of duty. Joining a scrupulous obedience 
to his idea of right with inflexibility of purpose, he could not 
admit that the Provincial Congress then in session had been 
vested with the power to dissolve the connection with Great 
Britain, and he therefore held it necessary first to consult the 
people themselves. For this end, on the eleventh of June, the 
New York Congress, on his motion, called upon the freehold- 



JOHN JAY. 389 

ers and electors of the Colony to confer upon the deputies 
whom they were about to choose full powers of administering 
government, framing a Constitution, and deciding the great 
question of Independence. In this manner the unanimity of 
New York was insured; her decision did not remain a mo- 
ment longer in doubt, though it could not be formally an- 
nounced until after the election of its Convention." By his 
departure from Philadelphia to take part in the sessions of the 
New York Congress, Mr. Jay was prevented from voting for 
or signing the Declaration of Independence, which he cor- 
dially approved, and was prepared to support with his life and 
fortune. 

Mr. Jay was chosen a member of the Convention of New 
York, which succeeded the Provincial Congress. He took the 
leading part in this body, and his exertions were unremitting 
and of the highest value to his country. The Tories, encour- 
aged by the loss of the city of New York and the disasters of 
the American army, were becoming very troublesome, and 
Mr. Jay favored and succeeded in carrying through the Con- 
vention a series of energetic measures for the suppression and 
punishment of their traitorous opposition to the American 
cause. He was also indefatigable in his efforts to offer a 
proper resistance to the expeditions of the enemy which as- 
cended the Hudson and ravaged its shores. When the Amer- 
ican army had retreated beyond the Delaware, and the patriot 
cause seemed about to go down in ruin, Mr. Jay did not 
despair. He wrote the admirable and cheering Address to 
the People of New York issued by the Convention on the 23d 
of December, 1776. This Address was endorsed by the Con- 
tinental Congress, was translated into German, and was printed 
and circulated throughout the country, by order of Congress. 

In the same year he was appointed on the Committee charged 
by the Convention with the preparation of a State Constitution 
for New York. The report of the Committee, which was writ- 
ten by him, was presented to the Convention on the 12th of 
March, 1777. The Constitution, as adopted by the Conven- 
tion, was principally his work. The labors of the Convention 
being now at an end, that body passed out of existence on 
the 13th of May, 1777. Just before its dissolution, it appointed 



390 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Mr. Jay Chief Justice of New York, in order that the adminis- 
tration of justice might not be discontinued. He was to hold 
this office until the Legislature could meet and make appoint- 
ments in a constitutional way. The Convention also appointed 
a Council of Safety, of fifteen members, which was invested 
with almost dictatorial powers, and which was to exercise au- 
thority until the State Government could be organized under 
the Constitution. Mr. Jay was a member of this Committee. 

In November, 1778, Mr. Jay was appointed a delegate from 
New York to the Continental Congress, and took his seat in 
that body on the 7th of December. Three days later he was 
elected President of Congress in the place of Mr. Laurens, who 
had resigned. He continued to preside over fhe deliberations 
of Congress until the fall of 1779. It was then proposed to 
send him to France as an Envoy from the United States, but 
John Adams was chosen for that post, and, on the 27th of 
September, 1779, Mr. Jay was appointed Minister to Spain. 
He sailed from America in the frigate Confederacy, on the 
26th of October, but as that vessel was obliged to put into 
Martinique from stress of weather, he continued his voyage in 
the French frigate Aurora, and reached Cadiz on the 22d of 
January, 1780. On the 4th of April he was at Madrid. 

The objects of Mr. Jay's mission were to procure from Spain 
the recognition of the independence of the United States, to 
negotiate a treaty of alliance, aiid to obtain pecuniary aid for 
the United States. Congress was of the opinion that the inti- 
macy of the alliance between France and Spain would induce 
the latter power to assist the United States as thoroughly as the 
former had done. Spain, however, had no sympathy for the 
American cause. The successful resistance to tyranny in 
America only alarmed her, for she feared that her own Colo- 
nies would follow the example of the United States, throw off" 
her rule, and assert their independence. She was willing to 
use the American States to further her own ends againt Great 
Britain ; but was resolved to use all her influence to defeat 
their plans of independence. Throughout the War of the 
Revolution she set her face firmly against independence for the 
United States, and endeavored to sacrifice them to her own 
objects. 



JOHN JAY. 391 

Mr. Jay found himself regarded with coldness and almost 
open hostility from the time of his arrival at Madrid. The 
King of Spain refused to receive him as an envoy, and he was 
treated with studied neglect. He very soon saw that the hope 
of obtaining aid or encouragement from Spain was a vain one, 
but his orders from Congress did not permit him to be dis- 
couraged. He was to continue his efforts in the hope that the 
Spanish Government would at length give a favorable response 
to them. 

Soon after his arrival in Madrid, he was placed in a most 
embarrassing situation by the action of Congress. That body, 
reduced to desperation by the need of money, and the difficulty 
of obtaining it, resolved to draw on Mr. Jay for the sum of 
one hundred thousand pounds sterling. When the bills ar- 
rived at Madrid, Jay was sorely perplexed. The Spanish 
Government had refused to receive him, and he had no re- 
sources from which to supply the demands of Congress. To 
allow the bills to go to protest would be to inflict an almost 
irreparable injury upon the credit of his country, and rather 
than permit this, he resolved to accept the bills at his own 
risk. .He did so, and was able to pay them as they came due, 
partly with sums received through the assistance of Franklin 
in Paris, and partly with small sums reluctantly advanced by 
Spain. 

The course pursued by Spain towards the United States 
disgusted the straightforward American envoy. He was not a 
man of intrigue, and he saw through the disingenuous policy 
of that Government at a glance. It was a relief to him there- 
fore, to receive, in April, 1782, a summons from Franklin to 
come to Paris and assist in the negotiation of a treaty of peace 
with England. "Spain," wrote Franklin, "has taken four years 
to consider whether she should treat with us or not. Give her 
forty, and let us in the meantime mind our own business." 
Mr. Jay left Madrid on the 20th of May, 1782, and reached 
Paris on the 23d of June. 

Negotiations had been begun between Franklin and the 
British Cabinet, and were in progress when he reached Paris. 
His arrival was most opportune, for Franklin was the only 
American Commissioner in Paris. Adams was in Holland 



392 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

perfecting the arrangements with the Dutch Government for 
the recognition of the independence of the United States, and 
negotiating a loan with the Amsterdam bankers, and Laurens 
was a prisoner in the Tower of London. 

Mr. Jay was not satisfied with the course affairs had taken 
before his arrival. His illusions as to the good faith of the 
European allies towards the United States had been rudely 
dispelled by his experience in Spain, and he came to Paris full 
of distrust. He doubted the sincerity of the French Court. 
"The Count de Vergennes," he said to Franklin, "does not 
wish to see our independence acknowledged by Britain until 
they have made all their uses of us." He positively refused to 
treat with Oswald, the intermediary of Lord Shelburne, under 
the commission by virtue of which that gentleman had con- 
ducted the negotiations with Franklin, and demanded that 
Oswald should be given a new commission to treat with the 
United States as an independent power. 

The great obstacle to a general negotiation was Spain, which 
power insisted that the American claim to the left bank of the 
Mississippi and the free navigation of that stream should be 
surrendered to her as the price of peace. On this point Jay 
was inflexible. The claim of his country was just and beyond 
question, and he would not even allow it to be discussed. He 
was satisfied that France was prepared to support the claim of 
Spain, and was resolved that she should obtain no advantage 
at the expense of the United States. He was fully a match for 
the Spanish ambassador. On the 26th of September, 1782, he 
was in company with Lafayette at Versailles, when he met the 
Count de Aranda, the Spanish Ambassador. "When shall we 
proceed to business ?" asked Aranda. "When you communi- 
cate your powers to treat," replied Jay. "An exchange of 
commissions cannot be expected," said Aranda, "for Spain has 
not acknowledged your independence." "We have declared 
our independence," said Jay ; "and France, Holland, and Britain 
have acknowledged it." "Lafayette came to his aid, and told 
the ambassador that it was not consistent with the dignity of 
France that an ally of hers like the United States should 
treat otherwise than as independent. Vergennes pressed upon 
Jay a settlement of the claims with Spain. Jay answered, 



JOHN JAY. 393 

'We shall be content with no boundaries short of the Missis- 
sippi.'"^ 

Upon the arrival of Oswald's new commission, the nego- 
tiations with Great Britain were resumed by Jay and Frank- 
lin. Both were of the opinion that the conferences had better 
be conducted directly with Great Britain, and not through 
France, and that American interests were safest in American 
hands. They therefore resolved not to communicate the pro- 
gress of the negotiations to the Count de Vergennes. "At 
the request of Franklin, Jay drew up the articles of peace. 
They included the articles relating to boundaries and fisheries, 
which Franklin had settled with Oswald in July; to these Jay 
added a clause for reciprocal freedom of commerce, which was 
equally grateful to Franklin and Oswald, and a concession to 
the British of the free navigation of the Mississippi. * * * 
Shelburne had hoped to make a distinction between the juris- 
diction over the western country and property in its un- 
granted domain, so that the sales of wild lands might yield 
some compensation to the loyal refugees; but Jay insisted that 
no such right of property remained to the King. Oswald 
urged upon him the restoration of the loyalists to their civil 
rights; but Jay answered that the subject of pardon was one 
with which ' Congress could not meddle. The States being 
sovereigns, the parties in fault were answerable to them, and 
to them only.' Oswald yielded on both points." 

Upon the arrival of Mr. Adams in Paris on the 20th of Oc- 
tober, he most cordially united with his colleagues in their 
determination to conduct the negotiations without reference to 
the Count de Vergennes, for he had, as we have seen, good 
cause to doubt the friendship of that Minister for America. 
He sustained the general policy of Jay and Franklin, but in- 
sisted that the i-iglit of the United States to a share in the fish- 
eries and the settlement of the question of the Northeastern 
boundary between the United States and Canada should be in- 
cluded in the Treaty. Both Jay and Adams favored the 
insertion of a clause providing for the collection of the debts 
due British merchants by American citizens before the com- 
mencement of the war, and finally won Franklin's consent to 
that provision. 

^Bancroft. 



394 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The treaty was signed on the 30th of November, 1782, and 
was made contingent upon a general pacification between all 
the parties to the war. This was accomplished, as we have 
stated, and the final treaty was signed on the 3d of September, 
1783. Mr. Jay's part in bringing about this settlement was of 
the highest importance, as we have seen. John Adams gives 
him full credit for it. He says he found his colleagues in the 
Commission able and attentive, "especially Mr. Jay, to whom 
the French, if they knew as much of his negotiations as they 
do of mine, would very justly give the title with which they 
have inconsiderately decorated me, that of le Washington de la 
negociation ; a very flattering compliment, indeed, to which I 
have not a right, but sincerely think it belongs to Mr. Jay." 

In May, 1784, Mr. Jay, having resigned his commission, left 
Paris and sailed for the United States. He reached New York 
on the 24th of July. It had been eight years since he had set 
foot in his native city, and nearly five years since he had sailed 
from America to Spain. He was received with public honors 
and with great enthusiasm by the people of New York. It 
was his intention to return to the practice of law, but he found 
upon his arrival that he had been once more elected to Con- 
gress by New York, and that Congress had appointed him 
Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He took his seat in that body 
on the 6th of December, and held it until the 21st of that 
month, when, with great reluctance, and yielding only to a 
sense of public duty, he accepted the Secretaryship to which 
he had been appointed. He held this position until after the 
adoption of the Constitution of the United States, and the in- 
auguration of the Federal Government. 

Mr. Jay sided with Hamilton in the discussions which pre- 
ceded the adoption of the Constitution, and wished to see the 
United States adopt a strong, centralized government. He 
supported the Constitution when finally adopted, and by his 
voice and pen, urged its acceptance by the States. He contri- 
buted the second, third, fourth, and fifth numbers to The Fed- 
eralist^ and was then disabled by a misfortune now to be re- 
lated, and was prevented from continuing his contributions. 
The only other article in TJie Federalist from his pen is the 
sixty-fourth, on the treaty-making power. 



JOHN JAY. 395 

In April, 1788, a serious disturbance occurred in New York, 
which is known as "The Doctor's Mob." A number of graves 
had been violated in order to procure subjects for dissection 
in the medical schools. These outrages aroused the most 
intense excitement in the city, and several physicians were 
arrested and committed to prison on the charge of being 
concerned in the violation of the graves. A mob collected and 
endeavored to force the doors of the prison, and hang the 
prisoners. Jay deeply abhorred mob violence, and in the earlier 
stages of the Revolution had sternly discountenanced it. He 
and Hamilton now placed themselves at the head of a body of 
citizens, drove the mob back, and protected the prisoners. In 
the melee Jay received a deep and dangerous wound in the 
temple, which confined him to his bed for some months, and 
put a stop to his labors on The Federalist. 

Upon his recovery he was chosen a member of the New 
York State Convention, which met at Poughkeepsie on the 
17th of June, 1778, to consider the ratification of the Consti- 
tution. The Convention was largely opposed to the Constitu- 
tion, but Jay advocated it with such force and effect that he 
completely reversed the majority, and the Constitution was 
adopted by a handsome vote. 

Upon the inauguration of the Federal Government, with 
Washington at its head, Mr. Jay consented, at the urgent re- 
quest of Washington, to remain in charge of the Foreign 
Office until the Executive Departments could be properly or- 
ganized by Congress. Mr. Jay was very doubtful of the suc- 
cess of the new Government. He had wished to see it much 
stronger, and more like the British monarchy. It was an open 
question with him whether a Republican form of government 
could succeed. He most earnestly desired its success, and was 
prepared to sacrifice his own preferences to the general wish, 
but he was very dubious as to the experiment. " Whether any 
people," he said, " could long govern themselves in an equal, 
uniform and orderly manner, was a question of vital impor- 
tance to the cause of liberty, but a question which, like others, 
whose solution depends on facts, could be only determined by 
experience — now, as yet, there had been very few opportuni- 
ties of making the experiment." Time has shown that the 
American people were wiser than this truly great man. 



396 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

Upon the organization of the executive departments of the 
Government, President Washington offered Mr. Jay his choice 
of them. He accepted the post of Chief Justice of the United 
States, and was confirmed by the Senate on the 26th of Sep- 
tember, 1789. In this position he fully sustained the splendid 
reputation he had acquired by his Revolutionary services. 
His decisions as Chief Justice, says Mr. Flanders, " do not 
enable us to judge of the extent of his juridical acquirements; 
nevertheless they evince a juridical facility, a power of analy- 
sis, an aptitude for logical processes, and a ready apprehension 
of principles." 

Mr. Jay was a Federalist, both by nature and conviction, and 
in 1792 was the candidate of that party for Governor of New 
York. He was beaten by George Clinton. It was claimed by 
the Federalists that he was- fairly elected, and that his defeat 
was caused by the action of the Republican Legislature in 
throwing out the votes of counties in which Jay had large mar 
jorities. Considerable excitement prevailed throughout the 
State, and threats of open resistance were indulged in by the 
Federalists. Mr. Jay counseled calmness and moderation. 
He declared his determination to abandon the contest rather 
than it should end in civil war. "A kw years," he wrote to 
his wife, "will put us all in the dust, and then it will be of 
more importance to me to have governed myself than to have 
governed the State." 

The unwillingness of Great Britain to comply with the terms 
of the Treaty of Peace, and the selfish and narrow-minded policy 
pursued by that country towards the United States, of which 
we have spoken in our account of Washington, was rapidly 
embroiling the two nations in a fresh war. Washington was 
anxious to avoid this, as the country's best interests demanded 
peace, and he determined to make an effort to settle the quar- 
rel by negotiation. He at first thought of sending Hamilton 
to England for this purpose, but the latter advised him to ap- 
point Mr. Jay. Washington decided to act upon this advice, 
and in the spring of 1794 appointed Mr. Jay Envoy to Eng- 
land. The nomination was confirmed by the Senate, and Mr. 
Jay sailed at once upon his mission. He was not inclined to 
accept the appointment at first, but yielded to the entreaties 



JOHN JAY. 397 

of the President. "No appointment," he wrote to his wife, 
"ever operated more unpleasantly upon me ; but the public 
considerations which were urged, and the manner in which it 
was pressed, strongly impressed me with the conviction that to 
refuse it would be to desert my duty for the sake of my ease 
and domestic concerns and comforts." 

Mr. Jay found that the indisposition of Great Britain to do 
justice to America was ingrained, and though he was flatter- 
ingly received, and the Ministers professed great willingness to 
come to a just and honorable settlement, he saw that an ar- 
rangement that would satisfy the just demands of his country 
could not be effected. A failure to come to some sort of un- 
derstanding would be most deplorable, as war was the only 
alternative. Jay had seen war, and knew what it was, and was 
moreover convinced that it would be the most terrible misfor- 
tune that could befall his country in her weak and almost 
helpless condition. He therefore decided to accept the best 
settlement he could obtain from England, and trust to the 
future for the rest. In the course of a few months he succeeded 
in negotiating a treaty by the terms of which Great Britain 
agreed to give up the western posts within two years, and to 
grant certain important commercial privileges to American 
ships trading with her East and West Indian possessions. On 
the other hand provision was made for the collection of debts 
due British merchants by American citizens. The Treaty was 
signed by Mr. Jay and the British commissioners, and was sent 
to the United States for ratification. 

Mr. Jay was not satisfied with the Treaty. He never pre- 
tended that it was a fair settlement, but he knew that it em- 
bodied all that Great Britain was willing to concede on the 
subject. The publication of the Treaty raised a storm of in- 
tense excitement in the United States, and both Mr. Jay and 
the President were denounced as plotting to betray the country 
into the hands of Great Britain. The President supported the 
Treaty* however, as he agreed with Mr. Jay that it was the best 
England was willing to give, and the Senate, after a fortnight's 
consideration of it in secret session, advised its ratification. Im- 
perfect as the settlement was, it secured to the country a num- 
ber of years of peace when war might have proved fatal to it. 



398 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Mr. Jay returned home immediately after the conclusion of 
the Treaty, and reached New York on the 28th of May, 1795. 
He was given an enthusiastic reception by the citizens of his 
native town, and found that during his absence he had been 
elected Governor of New York by a handsome majority. This 
was done without his knowledge, but he concluded to accept 
the office, and resigned the Chief Justiceship. The term of 
office of the Governor of New York at that time was three 
years. Mr. Jay was elected a second time in 1798, and his 
two terms thus covered a period of six years. He gave great 
satisfaction, and was one of the best chief magistrates New 
York has ever seen. During his administration he removed 
no one from office because of his political opinions. He was 
once advised to remove an office-holder of his own party and 
appoint a very influential member of the Republican party to 
the place, as it was believed that such a course would secure 
the influence and wealth of the person designated for the Fed- 
eralists. "Do you, sir," said the Governor sternly, to his 
counsellor, " advise me to sell a friend, that I may buy an 
enemy?" 

In 1799, he gave his approval to an Act of the Legislature 
for the gradual abolition of slavery in the State. He had 
urged such a measure upon the New York Convention in 1777, 
and was one of the most active men of his time in seeking to 
remove the evil of slavery from the country. He wished to 
accomplish this end in a constitutional way. 

Governor Jay declined a third term as Governor of New 
York. In November, 1800, President Adams appointed him 
Chief Justice, in the place of Oliver Ellsworth, who had re- 
signed, but he declined the appointment. He was anxious to 
retire to private life, and considered that he had given to his 
country all that she was entitled to demand of him. In 1801, 
at the expiration of his term of office as Governor, he took 
leave of all the employments of public life, and retired to his 
paternal estate of Bedford, in Westchester County, abdut fifty 
miles from New York. 

Mr. Jay passed the next twenty-nine years in his rural re- 
tirement. In 1802, his wife died. His children remained to 
him, however, and in their midst he passed the remainder of 



JOHN JAY. 39Q 

his life. He was very regular in his habits. " He rose with 
the sun," says Mr. Flanders, "had his meals served with punc- 
tuality, and passed most of the day in the open air and on 
horseback. Family worship was regularly observed, morning 
and evening, and was neither postponed nor suspended from 
the presence of company. He usually retired to rest about 
ten." 

Although he had withdrawn from public life, Mr. Jay did 
not lose his interest in political affairs, but watched them with 
the calmness of a philosopher. He was scrupulous in his per- 
formance of his duties as a citizen. "I attend every election," 
he wrote to a friend ; " even for town officers ; and having de- 
livered my ballot, return home without having mingled in the 
crowd or participated in their altercations." 

Mr. Jay was a sincere Christian. He was a member of the 
Episcopal Church, but his sympathies were too catholic to be 
confined to his own denomination. He gave liberally to other 
Churches, and was always ready to help forward to the extent 
of his ability any scheme for the advancement of Christianity. 

His health was good up to the last few years of his life, but 
in 1827 he was seized with a severe illness, which left him very 
feeble. In this condition he lingered until the 14th of May, 
1829, when he was smitten with a stroke of paralysis. He 
never rallied from it, and on the 17th of May, died in the 
eighty-fourth year of his age. 




JOHN MARSHALL. 

JOHN MARSHALL was born in Fauquier County, Vir- 
ginia, on the 24th of September, 1755. His father was a 
planter of moderate means, and his family consisted of fifteen 
children, of which the subject of this memoir was the oldest. 
Colonel Thomas Marshall was a man of education and culture, 
and a leading citizen of his county. During the Revolution he 
commanded a regiment of Virginia troops, and won considera- 
ble credit by his conduct in the battles of the Great Bridge, the 
Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. 

Fauquier was at this time one of the frontier counties of 
Virginia. It was thinly settled, and its people were plain and 
rough in their habits and mode of life. The schools of this 
region were so few and worthless that Colonel Marshall deter- 
mined to keep his children at home and educate them himself 
He applied himself to this task with earnestness and devotion, 
and was richly rewarded for his efforts by the progress they 
made under his instruction. He was particularly anxious that 
they should acquire a thorough knowledge of the English lan- 
guage and of history, and sought to cultivate in them a love 
for the masterpieces of the English tongue, which were his own 
favorites. John Marshall did ample justice to his father's 
labors, and when only fourteen years old had read Shakespeare, 
Milton, Dryden, and Pope, and could repeat nearly the whole 
of the "Essay on Man." He not only read these poets, but 
learned to love them, and they remained throughout his life 
his favorite authors. He appreciated his father's labors in his 
behalf, and long after, when at the height of his fame, said of 
that father, with an emotion which showed how deep was his 
gratitude, "To him I owe the solid foundation of all my success 
in Hfe." 

Delighted with the promise of his oldest son. Colonel Mar- 
shall resolved to secure for him better advantages of education 
than his own unaided labors offered, and accordingly sent him 

(400) 




^ ^^^ 



JOHN MARSHALL 



JOHN MARSHALL. 4OI 

for a year to the school of the Rev. Mr. Campbell, of West- 
moreland County, where he was taught English and Latin. 
At this school he became intimate with a fellow pupil named 
James Monroe, who, like himself, was destined to play a prom- 
inent part in the future career of his country. Returning home 
at the end of the year, he continued his studies under the Rev 
Mr. Thompson. 

He studied hard, and was a constant reader. He was fond 
of poetry and romance, but read history and biography with 
the deepest interest. He was quiet and thoughtful in manner, 
and full of a dreamy, poetic enthusiasm. He loved to wander 
in the thick woods, and would pass many of his leisure hours 
in studying the beauties of nature. His constitution was a 
sound and vigorous one, and he was not only fond of manly 
and athletic sports, but excelled in them. He had no vices, 
and was simple in his habits, unaffected in his manners, and 
fond of his home, the pure and healthy life of which was ad- 
mirably suited to the development of his^ character and his 
physical health. Colonel Marshall and his wife were practical 
Christians, and reared their children in the simple straightfor- 
ward piety which was a characteristic of our ancestors of that day. 
Young Marshall was destined for the bar, and began his 
legal studies at the age of eighteen. He was not permitted to 
continue them in peace, for the controversy with Great Britain, 
which was now at its height, drew all Virginia into it. A vol- 
unteer company was organized in the neighborhood, and young 
Marshall became a member of it. He was enthusiastic in his 
sympathy with the cause of his country, and with the natural 
ardor of youth declared himself in favor of armed resistance to 
Great Britain. 

In 1775, Patrick Henry roused the people of Virginia to a 
determination to drive the Royalist Governor, Lord Dunmore, 
out of the Province, and called for volunteers to assist him in 
that work. A regiment, of which Marshall's father was made 
Major, was raised in the counties of Fauquier and Culpeper. 
A part of this force consisted of the famous "Culpeper Minute 
Men," of which company young Marshall was made a lieuten- 
ant. The regiment hastened to the rendezvous at Williams- 
burg, and was soon despatched to the south side of the James, 
26 



402 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

under Col. Woodford. It took a prominent part in the battle 
of the Great Bridge. In July, 1776, Marshall's company was 
transferred to the Eleventh Virginia Regiment of the Conti- 
nental Line, and was ordered to the North. In May, 1777, he 
was made Captain of his company, in the command of which 
he took part in the fight at Iron Hill, and in the battles of the 
Brand)nvine, Germantown, and Monmouth. He remained 
with the army during the memorable winter at Valley Forge, 
and shared the hardships and sufferings of his men. He was 
constantly in active service until the close of 1779. He was 
always patient, hopeful and cheerful, and amid the sharpest 
trials to which the army was subjected, was never cast down. 
One of his comrades has declared that he did more than any 
other man to keep alive the hopes and courage of his regi- 
ment during that terrible winter, and that his example was 
not lost upon the army at large. Another states that "the 
officers of the Virginia line appeared to idolize him." Wash- 
ington's attention was drawn to him by his patriotic conduct, 
and the Commander-in-Chief conceived for the young man a 
warm friendship, which was as warmly returned by Marshall. 
Washington frequently appointed him deputy judge advocate 
in the courts-martial held during his continuance with the army, 
and in this capacity he gave the first evidences of his remarka- 
ble legal abilities. 

At the close of the year 1779, Marshall returned to Virginia 
to take command of a new corps which was about to be raised 
by an Act of the Legislature. The project was discussed for 
several months, and finally resulted in failure. During the 
time it was under discussion, he remained at Williamsburg and 
attended a course of lectures upon the law delivered by George 
Wythe, and a course of lectures upon natural philosophy de- 
livered by the Rev. Dr. Madison, afterwards Bishop of Vir- 
ginia, at William and Mary College. The next summer he 
received his license to practice law. The project for raising 
troops having failed, he set out on his return to the army. He 
was too poor to pay his passage to the North, or to hire a 
conveyance, and he walked the entire distance from Williams- 
burg to Philadelphia, more than three hundred and fifty miles. 
Reaching Philadelphia at last, he repaired to one of the inns 



JOHN MARSHALL. 4O3 

of the town, but he was so travel-stained and shabby that the 
landlord refused to admit him. He rejoined the army, and 
remained with it until the spring of 1 781, when he resigned 
his commission. 

Returning to Virginia, he entered upon the practice of the 
law. The surrender of Cornwallis in October, 1781, brought 
the war to a practical close, and as it became more evident 
every day that peace was at hand, the courts were thrown 
open, and our young lawyer began that brilliant career which 
has made his name the most prominent in our judicial history. 
His success was rapid, for his natural and professional abilities 
were of the first order, and his great popularity enabled him 
to acquire a certain amount of business from the first. In 1782 
he was elected to the Legislature of the State, as a representa- 
tive from the county of Fauquier. In the fall of that year he 
was appointed by the Governor of the State one of the Execu- 
tive Council. In January, 1783, he was married to Miss Mary 
Willis Ambler, a lady of great personal beauty, with whom 
he lived happily for more than fifty years. 

Mr. Marshall now decided to establish himself in Richmond, 
the new and growing capital of the State, where his opportu- 
nities of professional success would be much greater than in 
Fauquier. In spite of this determination, his old friends and 
neighbors in Fauquier reelected him to the General Assembly. 
In 1787 he was elected to that body from the county of Hen- 
rico. 

He was now a rising man, and was much noticed by the 
people of the community in which he had established himself 
He was very plain and even careless in his dress, and many 
amusing anecdotes are told of his peculiarities in this respect. 
Soon after he began the practice of law in Richmond, he was 
passing through the streets one morning clad in a suit of brown 
linen. His straw hat, which he carried under his arm, was 
filled with ripe cherries, which he ate as he walked along. 
As lis passed the Eagle Hotel, he stopped to exchange saluta- 
tions with the landlord, and then resumed his walk. A witness 

to this meeting was Mr. P , an elderly gentleman from the 

country, who had come to Richmond to engage counsel in an 
important lawsuit in which he was interested, and which was 



404 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

to be tried in a few days. The landlord pointed out Mr. Mar- 
shall, and advised him to retain him, as he was the best lawyer 
in the city. The careless appearance of the young advocate, 

however, had so much prejudiced Mr. P against him, that 

he refused to retain him. On entering the court house, Mr. 

P applied to the clerk, who also recommended him to 

engage Marshall, but the old gentleman would not hear of it. 
As they were speaking, Mr. V , a venerable-looking attor- 
ney, with a black coat and a powdered wig, entered the court 
house. Mr. P was so much impressed with his appear- 
ance, that he retained him on the spot. In the first cause that 

was called both Marshall and Mr. V addressed the court. 

"The vast inferiority of his advocate was so apparent that at 

the close of the case Mr. P introduced himself to young 

Marshall, frankly stated the prejudice which had caused him, 
in opposition to advice, to employ Mr. V ; that he ex- 
tremely regretted the error, but knew not how to remedy it. 
He had come to the city with one hundred dollars as his law- 
yer's fee, which he had paid, and had but five left, which, if 
Marshall chose, he would cheerfully give him for assisting in 
the case. Marshall, pleased with the incident, accepted the 
offer, not, however, without passing a sly joke at the omnipo- 
tence of a powdered wig and a black coat." 

In 1788 Mr. Marshall was elected to the Virginia Conven- 
tion, which met to consider the ratification of the Constitution 
of the United States. This Convention was one of the ablest 
bodies that has ever assembled in America, and its debates are 
famous in our history. Marshall warmly advocated the adop- 
tion of the Constitution, and is believed to have done more 
than any other person, Mr. Madison excepted, to secure its 
ratification. His efforts in its behalf did much to establish 
his reputation, and his practice increased rapidly from this time. 
He was extremely anxious to avoid all public trusts and devote 
himself to his profession ; but at the urgent request of his 
fellow citizens he consented to represent them in the lower 
House of the General Assembly. He was elected as a dele- 
gate from the city of Richmond in 1789, and held his seat until 
1 79 1. In the famous contests between the Federalists and 
Republicans, which marked those sessions, he took a deter- 



JOHN MARSHALL. 405 

mined stand in support of the former party, and was regarded 
as its mainstay. The poHtical questions of the day were dis- 
cussed with great bitterness, but Marshall made no enemies. 

Quitting the Legislature in 1791, he devoted himself exclu- 
sively to his profession for the next three years, appearing in 
public once to defend, with masterly eloquence, the course of 
President Washington with reference to the insolent conduct 
of Citizen Genet. In 1795, he was again elected to the Legis- 
lature, and this time "not only without his approbation, but 
against his known wishes." He yielded at length to the en- 
treaties of his friends, and took his seat. The great question 
of the day was the adoption of Jay's Treaty with Great Britain. 
In Virginia the opposition to the Treaty was intensely bitter 
and very great. Meetings were held in Richmond and other 
parts of the State, and the Treaty and all who upheld it were 
roundly denounced. Even the great influence of Washington 
was powerless to allay the excitement. Marshall, who had 
mastered the situation, and had seen that the Treaty, imper- 
fect and unsatisfactory as it was, was the only escape from a 
war which the country was in no way prepared to engage in, 
now came to the support of the President. He addressed a 
meeting of the citizens of Richmond, and made such a power- 
ful and unanswerable argument in favor of the adoption of the 
Treaty, that the men who had been foremost in assailing it, 
now united in passing resolutions indorsing the course of the 
President with reference to it. He made a similar effort in the 
Legislature, and effectually broke down the opposition to the 
Treaty. President Washington attached so much importance 
to these services that he offered his old friend and comrade 
the position of Attorney-General of the United States, which 
was then vacant. Marshall declined the offer, as he was unwill- 
ing to give up his practice, which had now become very lucra- 
tive. He continued to hold his seat in the Legislature, which 
did not interfere with his private business, and remained the 
constant and vigilant friend of Washington's administration. 
In 1796, the President wished to appoint him Minister to 
France, to succeed Mr. Monroe, but he declined the offer for 
the reason that had made him refuse the Attorney-Generalship. 
In 1797, in the midst of the difficulties with France, President 



406 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Adams requested him to serve on the embassy to that coun- 
try, with Pinckney and Gerry. He yielded to the entreaties 
of Washington, and went to France as an Envoy Extraordi- 
nary from the United States. As we have related elsewhere, 
the mission was a failure, but the spirited conduct of the 
American Envoys was a source of great gratification to their 
countrymen, and raised them still higher in the esteem and 
confidence of the people. Marshall reached New York in the 
summer of 1798, on his return, and was given a public recep- 
tion by the citizens of that place, " as an evidence of affection 
for his person, and of their grateful approbation of the patri- 
otic firmness with which he had sustained the dignity of 
his country during his important mission." Upon reaching 
Philadelphia, he was honored with a public dinner by the two 
Houses of Congress. He subsequently took a prominent part 
in the discussions of the times in support of the measures of 
the administration with respect to France. Returning to 
Richmond, he resumed the practice of his profession, but in a 
short while was summoned to Mount Vernon by Washington, 
who urged him to accept a seat in Congress, where his abilities 
and influence were needed by his party. He yielded with re- 
luctance to the entreaties of his old chieftain, and in 1 799 was 
elected to the House of Representatives in Congress, from the 
Richmond district. Just before the election. President Adams 
offered him a seat in the Supreme Court, but he declined it. 

Though he remained in Congress but a short time, his career 
in that body was honorable and brilliant. He took his stand 
as the uncompromising champion of the Administration of 
President Adams. He defended the Alien and Sedition Laws 
— the only time in all his career when he was found on the 
side of a bad cause — and he did so with such force of logic that 
his opponents, though they had the right on their side, were 
scarcely able to answer him. Mr. Binney says of him that, in 
the debates on the great constitutional questions, "he was con- 
fessedly the first man in the House. When he discussed them 
he exhausted them ; nothing more remained to be said ; and 
the impression of his argument effaced that of every one else." 
His greatest triumph in the House was won in a better 
cause than that of the Alien and Sedition Laws. Jonathan 



JOHN MARSHALL. 4O7 

Robbins, an English sailor, committed a murder on board of 
a British man-of-war, and fled to the United States for safety. 
The British Government, in accordance with one of the provis- 
ions of Jay's Treaty, demanded his surrender on the ground 
that he was a British subject, and he was accordingly surren- 
dered by President Adams. The opposition in Congress made 
this act of the President a pretext for a determined assault upon 
the Administration, and a resolution was introduced into the 
House of Representatives by Mr. Livingston, of New York, 
censuring the course of the President. The Resolution was 
debated at great length, and Marshall defended the President 
in a speech of great force. "This speech," says Judge Story, 
"was reponse sans repliqiie — an answer so irresistible that it ad- 
mitted of no reply. It silenced opposition, and settled then and 
forever the points of national law upon which the controversy 
hinged." 

In May, 1800, Mr. Marshall was appointed by Mr. Adams 
Secretary of War, but before he could enter upon the duties 
of that office was made Secretary of State. In this capacity 
he conducted several diplomatic negotiations, and his State 
papers are regarded as among the ablest in our archives. 
The post of Chief Justice of the United States having become 
vacant, Mr. Marshall advised Mr. Adams to confer it upon a 
gentlemen who was distinguished for his great abilities as well 
as by his devotion to the administration, but the President in- 
formed Marshall that, as he regarded him as the man of all 
others best qualified for the position, he had sent his name to 
the Senate for confirmation. The appointment thus came to 
him entirely unsolicited. It was made on the 31st of January, 
1 80 1, and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. It was 
unquestionably one of the wisest acts of Mr. Adams's public 
life. 

Marshall accepted the appointment, and at once entered 
upon his duties. He held the office of Chief Justice for over 
thirty-four years, and this period marks, perhaps, the most 
brilliant portion of our judicial history. His office was emi- 
nently suited to him, and he to it. It removed him from the 
arena of politics, and enabled him to devote himself to pur- 
suits entirely congenial to his tastes. His administration of 



408 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

his office was successful in the highest degree. It was marked 
by great wisdom, impartiality and firmness ; it established his 
own fame on the surest foundations; and gave to the Supreme 
Court an authority which it had never enjoyed before. " The 
decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States," says 
an eminent jurist, referring to Marshall's administration of it, 
" have raised the renown of the country not less than they 
have confirmed the Constitution. In all parts of the world its 
judgments are spoken of with respect. Its adjudications of 
prize law are a code for all future time. Upon commercial law 
it has brought us nearly to one system, befitting the probity 
of a great commercial nation. Over its whole path, learning 
and intelligence and integrity have shed their combined lustre." 

Judge Marshall continued to take a warm interest in the 
affairs of his native State, to the close of his life. In 1828, 
he was a delegate to a convention which met at Charlottes- 
ville, to consider and recommend to the Legislature a plan of 
internal improvements best suited to the needs of the State. 
In 1829, he was a member of the Convention which met at 
Richmond to revise the Constitution of Virginia. Though he 
was now quite old and feeble, he took part in the debates with 
his accustomed vigor, and gave to the work of revision his 
great wisdom and vast experience. He was mainly instrumen- 
tal in effecting the settlement of the disputes between the East- 
ern and Western sections of the State. 

In 1805 he published, in five volumes, his "Life of Wash- 
ington," which is still considered the best work on the subject 
in existence. The first volume was devoted to an admirable 
history of the Colonies from their settlement to the commence- 
ment of the Revolution. This work at once placed Judge- 
Marshall in the front rank of American writers. 

The sterling integrity, which was the basis of Judge Mar- 
shall's character, was exemplified in every action of his life. 
He would never argue in behalf of a cause he even suspected 
to be unjust, and he scorned to take a legal advantage at the 
expense of moral honesty. His promises were faithfully kept, 
no matter what the inconvenience to himself He became 
surety on one occasion for a friend to the amount of several 
thousand dollars. His friend failed, and Marshall paid the 



JOHN MARSHALL. 409 

debt, although he knew he could avoid payment, as the holder 
had forfeited his claim, in law, by requiring more than legal 
interest. 

He was a simple and earnest Christian, and held in the 
deepe. t abhorrence the fashionable skepticism of his time. His 
day opened and closed with the simple prayer he had learned 
at his mother's knee, and his daily life was an exemplification 
of his principles. He made no parade of his piety, for he was 
as modest and unassuming in this respect as in everything else; 
but it entered into all his acts, and governed him in every rela- 
tion of life. 

His generosity was proverbial. On one occasion, he stopped 
at the house of his old friend and comrade in arms. Captain 
Slaughter, of Culpeper. He found his friend in deep dejection 
and upon inquiring the cause, was told by Captain Slaughter, 
that his farm was burdened with a mortgage for ;^3,ooo which 
would soon be due, and that as he had not the means to pay 
it, he saw nothing before him but ruin. The next morning, 
upon taking his departure, Marshall handed the negro who 
brought him his horse, a note, which he told him to take to 
his master. This was done as Marshall was riding away, and 
upon opening the note Captain Slaughter found in it a cheque 
for ^3,000, the amount of the mortgage. Springing on his 
horse, he soon overtook Marshall, and though he thanked him 
warmly for his assistance, refused to accept it. Marshall was 
in great distress, and finally suggested a compromise. He 
took up the original mortgage and accepted a new one from 
his friend; but as the latter was never prosperous, he never 
asked for the payment of the debt. 

William Wirt has left us the following description of Judge 
Marshall as he appeared late in life, and at the height of his 
fame : "He is tall, meagre, emaciated ; his muscles relaxed, and 
his joints so loosely connected as not only to disqualify him 
apparently for any vigorous exertion of body, but to destroy 
everything like harmony in his air or movements. Indeed, in 
his whole appearance and demeanor — dress, attitudes, gestures, 
sitting, standing, or walking — he is as far removed from the 
idolized graces of Lord Chesterfield as any other gentleman 
on earth." 



4IO AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

His memory is cherished with the deepest affection by the 
people of Richmond, which was so long his home. "In spite 
of his ungainly person, no one was a greater social favorite 
than the Chief Justice. The people of Richmond regarded his 
eccentric figure with strong personal affection as well as re- 
spect. The black eyes, under their bushy gray brows, beamed 
with good nature, and the lips were habitually smiling. The 
courtesy of the Judge was one of his most beautiful traits. It 
was the spontaneous exhibition of the simple and kindly emo- 
tions of his heart. Pure benevolence and philanthropy dis- 
played itself in every word which he uttered. He gave his 
hand to the plain yeoman clad in homespun as courteously 
and sincerely as to the greatest personage in the country. He 
had the same simple and good-humored jest for both, and 
seemed to recognize no difference between them. It was in- 
structive to estimate in the good Chief Justice the basis and 
character of true politeness. John Randolph, one of the most 
fastidious and aristocratic of men, left his opinion that Mar- 
shall's manner was perfect good breeding. In dress and bear- 
ing it would be difficult to imagine any one more simple than 
Judge Marshall. He presented the appearance of a plain 
countryman, rather than a Chief Justice of the United States. 
He had a farm in Fauquier County, and another near Rich- 
mond, and he would often return from the latter to take his 
seat on the bench with burrs sticking to his clothes. His 
great passion was the game of quoits, and he was a member of 
the club which met at Buchanan's Spring, near the city, to 
play at this game. Here the Governor of Virginia, the Chief 
Justice, and the most eminent lawyers of the Court of Appeals, 
were found by a French gentleman, Baron Quinet, with their 
coats off, gayly pitching quoits, with the ardor of a party of 
urchins. In these simple amusements passed the hours of 
leisure which Judge Marshall could steal from exhausting 
judicial toil. At such times he seemed to become a boy 
again, and to forget the ermine. His fondness for other social 
enjoyments was great. He was the centre of a brilliant circle 
of men, many of whom were famous, and the tradition of their 
dinner parties, and the jests which they circulated, is still pre- 
served." 



JOHN MARSHALL. 4II 

It was his custom, when at home, always to attend to his 
marketing in person, and he might be seen every morning at 
the Old, or Shockoe Hill Markets, with his basket on his arm, 
making his purchases. One morning he noticed a fashionably 
dressed young man, swearing violently because he could not 
find any one willing to carry home for him a turkey which he 
had just purchased, and which his foolish pride would not 
permit him to car/y himself Approaching him quietly, the 
Judge asked where he lived, and upon being told, said, " I am 
going that way, and will carry it for you." Taking the turkey, 
he placed it in his basket, set out, and soon reached the young 
man's door. Upon receiving the turkey, the young man 
thanked him for his trouble, and asked, " How much shall I 
pay you?" "Nothing," replied the Judge, smiling; "you are 
welcome. It was on my way, and no trouble." So saying, 
the Judge departed, and the young man, with a faint suspicion 
of the truth, turned to a gentleman standing by and asked, 
"Who is that polite old man who brought home my turkey 
forme?" "That is John Marshall, the Chief Justice of the 
United States," was the reply. " Why, then, did he bring home 
my turkey?" stammered the abashed fop. "To give you a 
deserved rebuke," said the gentleman, " and to teach you to 
conquer your silly pride." 

The careless appearance of the Judge often led to amusing 
occurrences. A wager was once laid among his friends in 
Richmond that he could not dress himself without showing in 
his appearance some mark of his carlessness. The Judge, good- 
humoredly, accepted the wager. A supper was to be given to 
him upon these conditions : if his dress was found faultless 
upon that occasion, the gentlemen were to pay for the enter- 
tainment ; but if any carelessness could be detected in his 
dress or appearance, the expense was to fall upon him. Upon 
the appointed evening the Judge and his friends met at the 
place agreed upon, and to the surprise of all present, the 
Judge's dress seemed faultless. He appeared the very perfec- 
tion of neatness and taste. The supper followed, the Judge 
being in high glee over his victory. Near the close of the 
repast, however, one of the guests who sat next to Judge 
Marshall, chanced to drop his napkin, and stooping down to 



412 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

pick it up, discovered that the Judge had put on one of his 
stockings with the wrong side out. The announcement of the 
discovery at once changed the state of affairs, and amid roars 
of laughter, the Judge acknowledged his defeat. 

Judge Marshall was a great sufferer for many years before 
his death from an affection of the bladder, and was at length 
compelled to submit to a surgical operation for relief Shortly 
after this operation, which was successful, he was seized with 
an affection of the liver, and repaired to Philadelphia for medi- 
cal treatment. He grew rapidly worse after his arrival in that 
city, and died in Philadelphia on the 6th of July, 1835. His 
remains were conveyed to Richmond, and were buried in the 
Shockoe Hill Cemetery, by the side of his wife. His grave is 
marked by a plain slab, bearing a simple inscription dictated 
by himself, recording the date of his birth, his marriage, and 
his death. 




JAMES MADISON. 

THE father of Mr. Madison was a planter of ample means, 
and resided at Montpelier.in Orange County, Virginia. He 
was a descendant of John Madison, an Englishman, who had 
settled in Virginia about the year 1653. He married Eleanor 
Conway, by whom he had seven children. 

James Madison, the eldest of these, was born at the seat of 
his maternal grandmother, near the village of Port Royal, on the 
Rappahannock River, in King George County, Virginia, on the 
15th of March, 1751. At the age of twelve years he was sent 
to school in King and Queen County, to Donald Robertson, a 
Scotchman, with whom he remained three or four years. Here 
he learned some Latin, some Greek, some French, and the rudi- 
ments of mathematics. After leaving this school he spent 
about two years at home, pursuing his studies under the 
direction of the Rev. J. Martin. In 1769 he was sent to the 
College of New Jersey at Princeton, in preference to Wil- 
liam and Mary, the climate of Williamsburg being considered 
unhealthy for young men from the upper counties. 

Young Madison was a close, hard student, and gave himself 
up to his studies to a degree which seriously interfered with 
his health. For months together he allowed himself only three 
hours sleep out of the twenty-four. His constitution, never 
very strong, gave way under such severe labor, and he was 
obliged to increase his hours of sleep, but even then limited 
them to the shortest possible time consistent with his health. 
He thus inflicted upon himself an injury from which he never 
entirely recovered. In the summer of 1772 he took his degree 
of Bachelor of Arts, but remained another year at Princeton, 
pursuing a course of reading under Dr. Witherspoon, the Pres- 
ident of the College, for whom he conceived a warm regard. 

He returned to Virginia in 1773, and entered upon the study 
of the law, to the practice of which he had determined to de- 
vote himself He was soon drawn from his studies by the 

(413) 



414 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

controversy between the Colonies and Great Britain, in which 
he took an active part, defending the cause of his country and 
advocating the most decided measures of resistance. He es- 
pecially distinguished himself by his exertions in behalf of 
religious freedom. At that time the Baptists were at the mercy 
of the Established Church, which persecuted them, and annoyed 
them in many ways, throwing their ministers into jail, and 
breaking up their meetings for religious worship. "In Virginia 
the Established Church had become more intolerant as the 
Colony increased in population. It seemed so hostile to liberty, 
that James Madison, after coming home from Princeton * * 
expressed the opinion that, if the Church of England had been 
established and endowed in all the Colonies as it was in Virginia, 
the King would have had his way, and gradually reduced all 
America to subjection." Madison deeply abhorred the man- 
ner in which the Baptists were treated. In 1774, he wrote to 
a friend in the North, "I want again to breathe your free air. 
* * * That diabolical, hell-conceived principle of persecu- 
tion rages among some ; and, to their eternal infamy, the clergy 
can furnish their quota of imps for such purposes. There are 
at this time, in the adjacent county, not less than five or six 
well-meaning men in close jail for publishing their religious 
sentiments, which, in the main, are very orthodox." 

In the spring of 1776, Mr. Madison was elected a member 
of the Virginia Convention, which framed the first Constitution 
of the State. He did not acquire much reputation as a 
speaker in this body, for he was, as yet, too modest and diffi- 
dent to take more than a nominal part in the debates. " He 
never shone resplendent in debate, he never wrote or spoke 
anything that was striking or brilliant ; but few countries have 
possessed so useful a citizen as he. From 1776 to 18 17, look 
where you will in the public affairs of the United States, you 
find this little man doing, or helping to do, or trying to get a 
chance to do, the thing that most wanted doing. He was the 
willing horse who is allowed to draw the load. His heart was 
in the business of serving his country. He was simply intent 
on having the right thing done, not to shine in doing it." ^ 
In this Convention Mr. Madison made the acquaintance of 

1 Parton's Life of Jefferson, p. 208. 



JAMES MADISON. 415 

Thomas Jefferson, with whom he was destined to cooperate so 
cordially in after life, and to whom he was to owe so much of 
the eminence he was to achieve. They remained life-long 
friends and allies. Mr. Jefferson has left on record this tribute 
to his friend: "Mr. Madison came into the House in 1776, a 
new member and young; which circumstances, concurring with 
his extreme modesty, prevented his venturing himself in de- 
bate before his removal to the Council of State in November, 
1777. From thence he went to Congress, then consisting of a 
few members. Trained in three successive schools, he acquired 
a habit of self-possession which placed at ready command the 
rich resources of his luminous and discriminating mind, and 
of his extensive information, and rendered him the first of 
every assembly afterwards of which he became a member. 
Never wandering from his subject into vain declamation, but 
pursuing it closely, in language pure, classical, and copious, 
soothing always the feelings of his adversaries by civilities and 
softness of expression, he rose to the eminent station which he 
held in the great national convention of 1787; and in that of 
Virginia which followed, he sustained the new Constitution in 
all its parts, bearing off the palm against the logic of George 
Mason and the fervid declamation of Mr. Henry. With these 
consummate powers were united a pure and spotless virtue, 
which calumny in vain attempted to sully." 

In 1777, upon the organization of the State Legislature, Mr. 
Madison was elected a member of that body. He was a can- 
didate for reelection the next year. It was the custom in those 
days, in Virginia, for candidates for public offices to canvass 
their districts, visiting from house to house, and soliciting, in 
person, the votes of their constituents, and, if possible, keeping 
open house and a full punch bowl during the canvass. On the 
three days of the election, at which every citizen was compelled 
to vote under penalty of a heavy fine, "the candidates supplied 
unlimited punch and lunch, attended personally at the polls, 
and made a low bow as often as they heard themselves voted 
for." Mr. Madison did not approve of this method of con- 
ducting a political campaign, and in 1778 refused to conform 
to it. He was therefore defeated by the indignant citizens, who 
ascribed his failure to treat to stinginess, and his refusal to can- 



4l6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

vass for votes to pride. Although defeated for the lower 
House, the Legislature, soon after assembling, elected him a 
member of the Executive Council, in which body he retained 
his seat until 1780, when he was elected to Congress as a dele- 
gate from Virginia. 

Mr. Madison took his seat in Congress in March, 1780. 
There was a law in Virginia at the time rendering a delegate 
ineligible to reelection after three years' service in Congress, 
but Mr. Madison's services in that body were of such impor- 
tance, and were so highly appreciated by the State of Virginia, 
that the law was repealed in order that he might serve a fourth 
year. He took a leading part in the deliberations of Congress, 
and the constant aim of all his measures was to draw the States 
nearer together. He favored the adoption of the Articles of 
Confederation as a step toward the Union which he saw was so 
necessary to the welfare of the common country, but the effort 
to conduct the government under these Articles soon revealed 
the defects of the system. In April, 1781, a committee of Con- 
gress, of which he was the chairman, presented a report drafted 
by him "proposing by an amendment to the Articles of Con- 
federation to give to the United States full authority to employ 
their force as well by sea as by land, to compel any delinquent 
State to fulfil its Federal engagements; and the reason for the 
measure as assigned in the preamble was to cement and invig- 
orate the Federal Union, that it might be established on the most 
immutable basis." " From that day," says Bancroft, " Madison 
never ceased his efforts till a better system was established." 
In his opinion it was absolutely indispensable that Congress 
should have power to raise as well as to disburse a revenue, 
and in the summer of 1782 he endeavored to induce Virginia to 
give her consent to the proposal to endow Congress with power 
to levy a duty of five per cent, on imports. " Congress," he 
said, "cannot abandon the plan as long as there is a spark of 
hope. Nay, other plans, on a like principle, must be added. 
Justice, gratitude, our reputation abroad and our tranquillity at 
home, require provision for a debt of not less than fifty millions 
of dollars; and I pronounce that this provision will not be ade- 
quately met by separate acts of the States. If there are not 
revenue laws which operate at the same time through all the 



JAMES MADISON. 417 

States, and are exempt from the control of each, the mutual 
jealousies which begin already to appear among them will 
assuredly defraud both our foreign and domestic creditors 
of their just claims." The measure was defeated through the 
opposition of the States. 

Among the important services rendered in Congress by Mr. 
Madison was his preparation of the instructions of that body to 
Mr. Jay, Minister to Spain, in October, 1780, maintaining the 
right of the United States to the navigation of the Mississippi 
River ; and the address issued by Congress to the States at the 
close of the war, urging them to adopt some plan to enable 
the Federal Government to fulfil its promises of payment to the 
army and its other creditors. 

Returning to Virginia, in 1784, Mr. Madison resumed his 
legal studies and also devoted himself to miscellaneous reading. 
Philosophy and Science received considerable attention at his 
hands. His favorite study was Natural History, which he pur- 
sued with eagerness whenever he had leisure to do so. 

In 1784 Mr. Madison was again elected to the Legislature of 
Virginia, in which he served through the years 1785 and 1786. 
His influence and exertions in this body were all in favor of a lib- 
eral policy on the part of the State. He drew up the memorial 
and remonstrance against the project for a compulsory support 
of religion, which was perhaps made with a view to permanent 
establishment, and succeeded in defeating the scheme. When 
the plan for the separation of Kentucky from Virginia was 
proposed, he favored it, as he saw that Kentucky was resolved 
upon the separation, and he aided materially in securing its 
adoption. He gave his support to the adoption of the Code of 
Laws for Virginia as prepared by Jefferson, Wythe and Pendle- 
ton ; he opposed the attempt to introduce paper money into the 
State ; and favored measures for the recovery of the debts due 
British creditors. He was one of the most active members of 
the Legislature, yet amid all his engagements found time to 
carry on an extensive correspondence with four or five friends; 
and these letters give us perhaps the best picture of the State 
of Virginia at that time that can be found. 

In January, 1786, he secured the adoption by the Virginia 
Legislature of a resolution inviting Commissioners from all 
27 



41 8 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

the States to meet at Annapolis, in Maryland, to devise new 
regulations for the management of the commerce of the coun- 
try. As there was considerable jealousy of the Federal Gov- 
ernment on the part of the States, Mr. Madison did not venture 
to offer this resolution, having been himself a member of Con- 
gress. He confided it to a member of the Legislature not open 
to the suspicion of being inclined to strengthen the Federal 
power, a design which he himself constantly advocated. In 
response to the invitation of Virginia, five of the States sent 
Commissioners to the proposed Convention, which met at 
Annapolis in September, 1786. Mr. Madison was one of the 
Commissioners from Virginia. This Convention accomplished 
nothing, but recommended the assembling of a Convention 
of all the States at Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to revise the 
Articles of Confederation. 

Mr. Madison was chosen one of the five delegates from Vir- 
ginia to the Federal Convention. He took a leading part in 
the deliberations of that body, and contributed so largely to 
the shaping of the Constitution as adopted by the Convention, 
that he has been justly called " the Father of the Constitution." 
He entered the Convention with the determination that the 
Articles of Confederation should be swept away and replaced 
by a new Constitution, which should secure a more perfect 
union of the States, and give them a better form of govern- 
ment. He favored a strong national government, and labored 
to secure it. Before the meeting of the Convention he ad- 
dressed a letter to General Washington, giving his views as to 
the proper Constitution to be adopted. From this letter 
Washington made the following summary of Madison's plan 
of government : 

" Mr. Madison thinks an individual independence of the 
States utterly irreconcilable with their aggregate sovereignty, 
and that a consolidation of the whole into one simple republic 
would be as inexpedient as it is unattainable. He therefore 
proposes a middle ground, which may at once support a due 
supremacy of the national authority, and not exclude the local 
authorities whenever they can be subordinately useful. 

"As the groundwork, he proposes that a change be made 
in the principle of representation, and thinks there would be 
no great difficulty in effecting it. 



JAMES MADISON. 4I9 

" Next, that in addition to the present Federal powers, the 
national government should be armed with positive and com- 
plete authority in all cases which require uniformity ; such as 
regulation of trade, including the right of taxing both exports 
and imports, the fixing the terms and forms of naturalization, 
etc. 

" Over and above this positive power, a negative in all cases 
whatever on the legislative acts of the States, as heretofore 
exercised by the kingly prerogative, appears to him absolutely 
necessary, and to be the least possible encroachment on the 
State jurisdictions. Without this defensive power, he conceives 
that every positive law which can be given on paper will be 
evaded. 

" This control over the laws would prevent the internal 
vicissitudes of State policy, and the aggressions of interested 
majorities. 

" The natural supremacy ought also to be extended, he 
thinks, to the judiciary departments; the oaths of the judges 
should at least include a fidelity to the general as well as local 
constitution ; and that an appeal should be made to some 
national tribunal in all cases to which foreigners or inhabitants 
of the States may be parties. The admirality jurisdictions 
to fall entirely within the purview of the national government. 

" The national supremacy in the executive departments is 
liable to some difficulty, unless the officers administering them 
could be made appointable by the supreme government. The 
militia ought entirely to be placed, in some form or other, 
under the authority which is intrusted with the general pro- 
tection and defence. 

" A government composed of such extensive powers should 
be well organized and balanced. 

"The legislative department might be divided into two 
branches, one of them chosen every — years, by the people 
at large, or by the legislatures ; the other, to consist of fewer 
members, and to hold their places for a longer term, and to go 
out in such rotation as always to leave in office a large ma- 
jority of old members. 

" Perhaps the negative on the laws might be most conve^ 
niently exercised by this branch. 



420 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

"As a further check, a council of revision, inckiding the 
great ministerial officers, might be superadded. 

"A national Executive must also be provided. He has 
scarcely ventured, as yet, to form his own opinion, either of 
the manner in which it ought to be constituted, or of the au- 
thorities with which it ought to be clothed. ■ 

"An article should be inserted, especially guaranteeing the 
tranquillity of the States against internal as well as external 
dangers. 

" In like manner, the right of coercion should be expressly 
declared. With the resources of commerce in hand, the na- 
tional administration might always find means of exerting it 
either by sea or land ; but the difficulty and awkwardness of 
operating by force on the collective will of a State, render 
it particularly desirable the necessity of it might be pre- 
cluded. Perhaps the negative on the laws might create such a 
mutual dependence between the general and particular authori- 
ties as to answer ; or perhaps some defined objects of taxation 
might be submitted along with commerce to the general au- 
thority. 

" To give a new system its proper validity and energy, a 
ratification must be obtained from the people, and not merely 
from the ordinary authority of the legislature. This will be 
more essential, as inroads on the existing constitutions of the 
States will be unavoidable." 

The reader can ascertain, by a perusal of the Constitution 
of the United States, how far the views of Mr. Madison are 
carried out in it. 

During the sessions of the convention, Mr. Madison kept a 
faithful record of the debates of that body, the only complete 
or authentic account of its proceedings in existence. It was 
his habit to write out at night what had been said during the 
day. He would never permit this record to be published dur- 
ing his life-time, but after his death it was purchased by 
Congress from his widow, for the sum of thirty thousand 
dollars, and published by order of Congress. 

After the formation of the Constitution, Mr. Madison united 
with Hamilton and Jay, in the preparation of the series of 
essays in advocacy of it, known as The Federalist. His articles 



JAMES MADISON. 421 

were signed " Publius," and were among the ablest of the 
series. 

Mr. Madison was elected to the Convention of Virginia, to 
which the Constitution was submitted for ratification. This, as 
has been said elsewhere, was one of the ablest assemblies that 
ever met in America. Mr. Madison was regarded as in a great 
measure responsible for the adoption of the Constitution by the 
Federal Convention, and upon him devolved chiefly the task 
of carrying it through the Convention of his own State. There 
was a powerful opposition to it in the Virginia Convention, 
ably led by George Mason and Patrick Henry, who made such 
a determined fight against it that it required all the ability 
and tact of its friends to secure its adoption. The struggle in 
Virginia had more of a national interest than in any other 
State, and was watched with the deepest anxiety by the whole 
country; for it was well understood that the failure of the Con- 
stitution in the Virginia Convention would seal its fate in the 
other States. Mr. Madison proved himself equal to the task 
he had assumed, and by his cool and powerful reasoning, broke 
down the eloquent opposition of Mr. Plenry and his colleagues, 
and secured the ratification of the Constitution by a decisive 
majority. 

He was mainly instrumental in obtaining the cession by Vir- 
ginia to the General Government of her Northwest Territory, 
now comprising the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, which 
the State claimed by royal grants and by her conquests during 
the Revolution. 

The Constitution having been adopted, Mr. Madison was 
elected to the Lower House of Congress, and remained a mem- 
ber of that body until 1 797. In 1794 he married Mrs. Todd, a 
widow of Philadelphia, but of Virginian parentage. He was 
very anxious after his marriage to withdraw from public life, 
and devote himself to his private affairs and to study, but his 
friends would not hear of his leaving Congress. He was needed 
there, and he came at length to see this, and became reconciled 
to the sacrifice of his inclinations demanded of him by his 
country. 

He was regarded as one of the leading men in Congress, and 
no one in that body had more weight than he in influencing its 



422 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

decisions. In the work of framing and securing the adoption 
of the Constitution he had cordially cooperated with Hamilton ; 
but after the formation of the government he found himself 
compelled to differ from his former ally on many points. He 
favored a strict construction of the Federal Constitution, and 
regarded Hamilton's financial measures as violative of that 
instrument. He therefore opposed the unqualified assumption 
of the State debts by Congress, and the establishment of a Na- 
tional Bank. When the public debt was funded he made an 
unsuccessful attempt to secure to the soldiers of the Revolution 
and other original creditors of the country the benefits of the 
rise in the value of the public claims which speculators, as we 
have elsewhere stated, had purchased at about one-eighth of 
their nominal value. By his opposition to the financial policy 
of the government he became one of the minority in Congress 
from which sprang the Republican party, of which he was to be 
one of the leaders. His opposition was conducted in such a 
manner that the friendly relations existing between himself and 
the President were never disturbed. Washington always cher- 
ished a warm friendship for Madison, who, on his part, regarded 
the Father of his Country with affectionate reverence. As the 
close of his first term drew near, Washington, who was anxious 
to retire from office, conceived the idea of issuing a farewell 
address to his countrymen, and having made an outline of this 
document, sent it to Mr. Madison with a request to fill it up for 
him. Madison did as requested, but at the same time urged the 
President to serve a second term. When the close of the second 
term approached, Washington took Madison's draft of the fare- 
well address, enlarged it and sent it to Hamilton to put in final 
shape. The address, as issued, contains many portions as 
they came from Mr. Madison's pen. 

Hamilton had not the magnanimity of Washington. He re- 
sented opposition to his policy as an injury to himself "I will 
not give him up yet," he said when he first heard of Madison's 
opposition to his financial schemes, " as though it were a moral 
aberration in his friend to object to his measures ; and when it 
became clear that Madison was fixed in his opposition, he 
had the immeasurable insolence to say, 'Alas, poor human 
nature !' " 



JAMES MADISON. 423 

Mr. Madison, years afterwards, when he had passed out of 
the arena of politics into the retirement of his peaceful old age 
once gave the following reason for his separation from Hamil- 
ton: "I abandoned Colonel Hamilton," he said, "or Colonel 
Hamilton abandoned me — in a word, we parted — upon its 
plainly becoming his purpose and endeavor to adnimistration 
the government into a thing totally different from that which 
he and I knew perfectly well had been understood and mtended 
by the Convention which framed it, and by the people in 
adopting it." 

The retirement of General Washington from the Presidency 
opened the floodgates of political passion. In the campaign of 
1796, Mr. Madison supported Mr. Jefferson for the Presidency. 
He was warmly attached to him, had found him his best coun- 
sellor in many difficult portions of his life, and owed to his 
advice much of the success he had won. He was also in close 
sympathy with him in his political convictions. Both were 
republicans in the truest sense of the word, and both were in 
favor of a strict construction of the Constitution. The French 
Revolution had entered largely into American politics, as we 
have seen, and Mr. Madison, like Jefferson, was a warm sym- 
pathizer with the Revolutionists. He deplored their excesses 
and cruelties; but as he was confident that the movement 
would in the end be beneficial to the cause of freedom, he 
wished it God speed. 

Mr. Adams was elected President, and in 1797 entered upon 
the duties of his office. In the same year Mr.' Madison retired 
from Congress, and returned to Montpelier. He hoped he 
would now be permitted to carry out his plan of withdrawing 
from public life ; but the country could not spare him yet. The 
passage of the Alien and Sedition Laws alarmed him, and he 
consented to enter the Virginia Legislature in order to oppose 
them more effectively. During the session of 1798 he prepared 
and carried through the Legislature the resolutions which 
denounced the Alien and Sedition Laws as violations of the 
Constitution, and invited the other States to take similar ground. 
The resolutions produced considerable discussion in pamphlets 
and in the newspapers throughout the country. Mr. Madison, 
in 1799, prepared the famous Virginia resolutions of that year, 



424 AMERICAN' BIOGRAPHY. 

with a preamble in which he examines the whole subject. This 
preamble is regarded as the most concise and powerful exposi- 
tion of the relative rights of the States and the General Govern- 
ment ever written, and as one of the closest and most perfect 
pieces of reasoning in the English language. It is believed to 
have done more than anything else on the Republican side to 
destroy the Federalist party. 

In the campaign of i8oo Mr. Jefferson was elected President. 
He was inaugurated in March, 1801, and placed Mr. Madison 
at the head of his Cabinet as Secretary of State. In this capacity 
Madison prepared the papers in defence of the claim of the United 
States to the right of deposit at New Orleans, and conducted 
the discussion with respect to the true boundary of Louisiana. 
He carried on the correspondence with Mr. Rose and Mr. 
Jackson, the British Ministers, with reference to the outrage 
upon the frigate Chesapeake, and won great credit by his firm 
and decided course. He drew up the instructions to Mr. Mon- 
roe for negotiating a treaty with England, and wrote the state- 
ment of the reasons which induced the President to reject the 
treaty when arranged. He also wrote the protests of the United 
States against the British Orders in Council and the French 
Decrees. While Secretary of State, he also wrote an " Exami- 
nation of the Doctrines of National Law," which is regarded as 
the ablest production of his pen, and one of the clearest expo- 
sitions of the relative rights of neutrals and belligerents in exist- 
ence. 

In 1808, Mr. Jefferson having declined a third term, Mr. Mad- 
ison was nominated for the Presidency by the Republican party, 
and received one hundred and twenty two of the one hundred 
and seventy votes of the Electoral College. 

Mr. Madison inherited the quarrel with England which had 
been gathering force during the administration of Mr. Jefferson. 
He was fully aware how poorly prepared the country was for 
war, and was anxious to postpone hostilities to the last moment 
consistent with the honor and dignity of the nation. He entered 
heartily into the proposal of Mr. Erskine, the British Minister, 
for a settlement of the dispute, and upon the assurances of that 
gentleman that his Government would rescind the obnoxious 
" Orders in Council" as far as they applied to the commerce of 



JAMES MADISON. 425 

the United States, issued his proclamation on the 19th of April, 
1 8 10, suspending the Non-intercourse Act, as regarded Eng- 
land, after the loth of the following June. In the course of a 
few weeks over one thousand vessels, laden with American pro- 
ducts, put to sea for foreign ports. They were scarcely at sea 
when the President was notified that Mr. Erskine had exceeded 
hi-; powers, and that Minister was re-called and a Mr. Jackson 
appointed in his place. The President and his Cabinet were 
deeply mortified by the failure of the negotiation, and a procla- 
mation was at once issued applying the terms of the Non-inter- 
course Act once more to Great Britain. Mr. Jackson was 
coldly received by both the Government and the nation, and 
was so insolent in his correspondence and conduct that the 
President refused to communicate with him, and demanded his 
recall. The British Government declined to appoint a successor 
to Mr. Jackson, and diplomatic intercourse between the two 
countries came to an end. 

The outrages upon American commerce continued, and the 
quarrel between the two countries deepened. The sentiment 
of the American people was rapidly settling in favor of war, 
for they could see little difference between the existing state 
of affairs and open hostilities. The Indians of the Northwest 
were becoming very troublesome, and were instigated to hos- 
tilities by the agents of the British Government. The Repub- 
lican party was anxious for war, and Henry Clay, the brilliant 
leader of that party, was resolved that England's arrogant 
aggressions should not go unpunished. He was now Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, one of the most influential 
officers of the Government. " Such was the temper of the 
public in those months, that the eloquence of Henr}^ Clay, 
seconded by the power of the Speaker, rendered the war un- 
avoidable." The struggle came at length. On the i8th of 
June, 1 81 2, Congress declared war against Great Britain and 
her dependencies. 

It is not our purpose to relate here the events of the second 
war with England. Our task is to tell the story of Mr. Madi- 
son's life, and we shall refer to the events of the war only as 
they concern him. It is conceded that he made serious mis- 
takes at the outset in his appointment of the commanding 



426 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

officers of the Army, and in the plan of campaign resolved 
upon. Fortunately he was a friend to the Navy, and the 
infant marine of the Republic, by its victories over England in 
her native element, in a great measure atoned for the disasters 
of the army, and maintained the reputation of the country. 

While determined to preserve the national honor untarnished, 
and to accomplish, if possible, the objects of the war, Mr. 
Madison was anxious to bring the conflict to a close at the 
earliest practicable moment, and in the spring of 181 3 readily 
accepted the Russian offer of mediation, and appointed Gal- 
latin, Bayard, and John Quincy Adams commissioners to nego- 
tiate a peace. As the offer was declined by Great Britain, 
nothing came of it. 

In spite of the early disasters of the war, Mr. Madison was 
reelected President by a majority of forty-two electoral votes 
over his competitor, De Witt Clinton, and the Republican party 
retained its majority in Congress. 

During the winter of 181 3-14, a communication was received 
from the British Government, stating that, although Great 
Britain had declined the Russian offer of mediation, she was 
willing to enter into direct negotiations with the United States 
for the close of the war. The President at once met this over- 
ture of England, and added Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell 
to the Commissioners already in Europe. Gottenburg, in 
Sweden, was at first chosen as the place for holding the peace 
conferences, but the Commissioners shortly after adjourned to 
Ghent, in Belgium. 

The last year of the war brought many compensations for 
the earlier disasters of the struggle. The fall of Napoleon 
left England free to direct her whole strength against the 
United States, and a large number of the veterans who had 
followed Wellington were sent across the Atlantic. Washing- 
ton was captured by a raid of the British troops under General 
Ross, in August, 18 14, as there was no force at hand to defend 
it. The President and officers of the Government were forced 
to fly from the capital, and the public buildings were burned 
by the enemy. In spite of this disaster, however, the year was 
one of general success to the Americans. The earlier incom- 
petents had been weeded out of the army, and the troops were 



JAMES MADISON. 42/ 

commanded by officers of ability, such as Brown, Scott, Gaines, 
Jackson and Ripley. The victories of Chippewa, Lundy's 
Lane, Fort Erie, Plattsburgh and Baltimore, showed that the 
American troops would fulfil the expectations of their coun- 
trymen when properly commanded, and revived the confidence 
of the nation in the Army. With the new year the brilliant 
victory of New Orleans, won by American militia over the 
splendid veterans of Wellington, sent a thrill of pride through 
the whole country. The Navy continued successful through- 
out the entire war. The Indian power in the Northwest had 
been broken by General Harrison in the victory of the Thames, 
and the Northwestern frontier had been kept intact by Perry's 
splendid victory on Lake Erie. The United States were there- 
fore in a condition to come out of the war with credit. 

In the meantime the negotiations for peace had been going 
on at Ghent. The American Commissioners had been in- 
structed to demand the settlement of the impressment question, 
and at the same time to give assurance that upon the relin- 
quishment of that claim by England, Congress would enact a 
law forbidding the enlistment of English sailors in either the 
navy or the merchant service of the United States. On the 
14th of December, 1814, the labors of the Commissioners were 
brought to a close, and a treaty of peace between the United 
States and Great Britain was signed. The treaty was silent 
about impressments — the cause of the war. Nevertheless, as 
Great Britain did not afterwards exercise this claim as far as 
this country was concerned, this question may also be regarded 
as having been settled by the war. The treaty was unanimously 
ratified by the Senate, and on the i8th of February, 181 5, peace 
was proclaimed by the President. A few days later the Presi- 
dent recommended to Congress the passage of a law forbidding 
the enlistment of foreign seamen in American vessels. 

Immediately after the close of hostilities with P.ngland, the 
President dispatched a fleet of ten vessels of war, under Com- 
modore Decatur, to the Mediterranean, to punish the Dey of 
Algiers for his outrages upon the commerce of the American 
States. Decatur captured the two best ships of the Algerine 
service on his voyage out, and compelled the Dey to indemnify 
the Americans from whom he had extorted ransoms, to surren- 



428 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

der his American prisoners unconditionally, to renounce his 
claim to tribute from the United States, and to pledge himself 
to cease to molest American vessels in future. Tunis and Tri- 
poli were then served in the same way, and compelled to give 
pledges for their future good behavior. 

The close of the war with England found the United States 
suffering from the evils inseparable from such a struggle. The 
finances of the countr)-' were in a wretched condition ; all the 
banks but those of New England had suspended specie pay- 
ments, and none were now in a condition to return to a specie 
basis. The public debt was over ;$ 1 00,000,000, and there was 
a general lack of confidence throughout the countr}'. In view 
of the general distress, Mr. Dallas, the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, proposed to abolish a number of the internal taxes which 
had been levied for the support of the war. In their place he 
advised the imposition upon imports from foreign countries of 
duties sufficiently high not only to afford a revenue, but also 
to protect the manufactures of the country which had sprung 
up during the war, and which were threatened with ruin by the 
competition of English goods. The President, in a message 
to Congress, warmly endorsed this plan. Another important 
measure was also enacted. The Charter of the first Bank of the 
United States expired in 181 1. Efforts had been made, with- 
out success, to obtain its renewal. In January, 18 14, a bill for 
this purpose, which had passed both Houses of Congress, was 
vetoed by the President. In the Spring of 18 16, a bill was 
passed by Congress chartering a new Bank of the United 
States for twenty years, with a capital of $35,000,000. This 
bill was approved by the President on the loth of April, and 
became a law. It gave the people of the Union a uniform paper 
currrency, good in all parts of the country, and redeemable on 
demand in gold and silver, and did much to remedy the finan- 
cial difficulties of the times. 

Mr. Madison declined to be a candidate for a third term in 
the campaign of 18 16, and supported the claims of his friend, 
Mr. Monroe, who was nominated and elected by the Republi- 
can party. In March, 18 17, Mr. Madison retired from the Pres- 
idency, upon the inauguration of Mr. Monroe, glad to lay down 
at length the cares of office, and seek once more the repose of his 



JAMES MADISON. 429 

beloved Montpelier. The remainder of his Hfe was passed in 
pleasant retirement, which was broken only once. He con- 
sented to serve in the Virginia Convention of 1 829, which met 
at Richmond for the purpose of revising the Constitution of the 
State. He was the leading member of this body, and was 
looked up to by his colleagues with a respect and veneration 
that were peculiarly gratifying to him, and that were in every 
way deserved. Mr. A. J. Stansbury, Author of " Reminiscences 
of Public Men," thus sketches Mr. Madison's appearance in 
this Convention : 

" I saw Mr. Madison for the first time. * * You may im- 
agine the intense curiosity with which I gazed on an individual 
so illustrious. Among a crowd of gentlemen who entered the 
hall of the old House of Burgesses, in the capitol, where the 
Convention was about to open, I saw one of lower stature than 
any of his compeers, slender and delicate in form — dressed in a 
suit of black, not new, and now dusty from travel, with a 
hat distinguished by the width of its brim, and its total es- 
trangement from the fashionable block of the day ; in aspect 
grave, yet mild; in air and carriage perfectly simple and unas- 
suming; of light, elastic step, and possessing, altogether, what 
might be called a winning address. I observed that he was 
approached by every one with an instinctive respect (though 
not with that expression of awe which was inspired by Wash- 
ington), and I soon learned from eveiy mouth that it was ex- 
President Madison. Many members of the Convention then 
saw him, like myself, for the first time. He looked to me like 
a gentleman farmer, emerging from retirement to give his vote 
at some important election, and then purposing to return home. 

" He met his friends with courtesy, but with an unmoved 
calmness of manner, differing, as it seemed to me, from that 
warmth and cordiality which usually marks the intercourse of 
Virginians, and Southern people generally. Indeed, were I 
asked to point out Mr. Madison's distinguishing trait — I speak 
of his constitutional organization — I should say it was this 
very quality of dignified calmness. His tone of mind seemed 
pleasant, even cheerful, but totally undisturbed — ever self- 
possessed, self-balanced. Whenever I met him afterwards, 
this original impression remained unaltered. He was, in all 



430 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

situations, gentlemannly, modest, retiring, and for so distin- 
guished a character, more silent than I had expected. He 
never assumed the lead in conversation, and appeared always 
more disposed to listen than to speak. Nothing can be con- 
ceived more remote from all assumption and display. During 
the whole duration of the Convention (and it sat for sixteen 
weeks), although of all present he was best entitled to speak 
on subjects such as those which occupied that body, he spoke 
but twice. When he did speak, however, the effect of such 
retiring merit was at once obvious. While other members of 
the body, even the most distinguished among the elite of Vir- 
ginia, were listened to with respectful attention, but without 
any special outward demonstration of interest, no sooner was 
Mr. Madison upon his feet, than there was in one moment a 
simultaneous rush from every part of the hall ; the ordinary 
decorum of the body seemed forgotten ; regardless of all ob- 
stacles, every man made a straight line to the spot, and he was 
at once so completely hemmed in by the crowd that thronged, 
around to hear, that his small figure could scarce be seen 
There was, indeed, one reason for this movement besides the 
homage which his character commanded. 

" His voice, never very strong, was then very slender, and 
even feeble, (he was in his seventy-eighth year,) although his 
enunciation was perfectly distinct, and the universal eagerness 
not to lose a syllable that fell from him, may have quickened 
the effort to be as near him as possible. My professional oc- 
cupation opened an avenue to me, since it was my duty to take 
down the speech ; but such was the interest I felt, in common 
with all around me, to hear the speech, that it was with diffi- 
culty I could prevent my attention from being drawn from my 
task, leaving me a listener merely. I have still the MS. notes 
of that speech (the last he ever delivered), with corrections 
of it in his own hand. * * Connected with it is a little anec- 
dote, characteristic in the highest degree of the meekness of 
wisdom which so eminently distinguished the author of ' Tlie 
Federalist! When I had finished writing out the speech, I left 
it with him for his revision. Next day, as there was a great 
call for it, and the report had not been returned for publication, 
I sent my son, with a respectful note, requesting the MS. My 



JAMES MADISON. 43 I 

son was a lad of about sixteen, (whom I had taken with me 
to act as an amanuensis,) and on deHvering my note he was 
received with the utmost poHteness, and requested to come up 
to Mr. Madison's chamber, and wait while he ran his eye over 
the paper; as company had, till that moment, prevented his 
attending to it. He did so: and Mr. Madison, pen in hand, 
sat down to correct the report. The lad stood near him, so 
that his eye fell on the paper. Coming to a certain sentence 
in the speech, Mr. Madison struck out a word, and substituted 
another; but hesitated, and not feeling quite satisfied with the 
second word, drew his pen through that also. My son was 
young, ignorant of the world, and unconscious of the solecism 
of which he was about to be guilty, when, in all his simplicity, 
lie suggested a word. Yes, he ventured, boy that he was, to 
suggest to James Madison an improvement in his own speech! 
Probably no other individual then living would have taken such 
a liberty. But the sage, instead of regarding the intrusion 
with a frown, raised his eye to the boy's face with pleased sur- 
prise, and said, 'Thank you, sir, it is the very word,' and im- 
mediately inserted it. I saw him the next day, and he men- 
tioned the circumstance with a compliment on the young 
critic. 

" I was forcibly struck, while discharging my daily duty in 
the Convention, with the deportment of Mr. Madison. Punc- 
tual and unfailing in his attendance, he always occupied the 
same seat, and I do not think that in the hall there was an- 
other individual who paid as uniform and unremitted attention 
to the proceedings of the body. Whoever occupied the floor 
was sure of at least one attentive listener. John Marshall 
himself did not listen with more steadiness and condescension 
to the argument of a young member of the bar (and who 
was ever a young member there, and did not feel with the 
deepest gratitude that admirable trait in the character of the 
great jurist ?) than did Mr. Madison to the speeches of every 
grade, from men of every calibre, on subjects of which none 
was so complete a master as himself" 

Returning to Montpelier after the close of the Convention, 
Mr. Madison passed the rest of his life in retirement. He was 
one of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia, in 



432 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

which institution he took a deep interest, and after the death 
of Mr. Jefferson was elected its Rector. Except in the dis- 
charge of these duties, he never quitted his retirement. Al- 
though his constitution was exceedingly delicate, and he never 
enjoyed good health, he lived to the age of eighty-five. His 
last years were full of bodily suffering, which he bore with 
patience and cheerfulness. He died on the 28th of June, 1836. 

Mr. Madison was small in stature and plain in appearance. 
His manner was reserved except among his intimate friends, 
when he was genial and bright. His disposition was sweet 
and winning, and his temper was kept under the most perfect 
control, his anger rarely manifesting itself in anything beyond 
a flush of the cheek or a flash of the eye. He was a devoted 
and tender husband ; but his marriage was childless. He 
owned slaves, though he abhorred slavery, and was satisfied 
that the evil would be removed some day. He was a kind and 
indulgent master, and his slaves were more than ordinarily 
attached to him. He would never sell them save at their own 
wish to allow them to be with their families, though by dispos- 
ing of them he might have relieved himself of the debts which 
always hampered him. He always said that his slaves were a 
pecuniary loss to him, but he kept them from motives of the 
purest philanthropy. 

As a public man Mr. Madison was surpassed in brilliancy by 
many of the statesmen of this country ; but for solid abilities 
and attainments, for disinterested usefulness, and in the amount 
of good he accomplished for his country, he was excelled by 
none. He was perhaps the best political writer this country 
has ever produced. Mr. Jefferson said of him : " From three and 
thirty years' trial I can say conscientiously that I do not know 
in the world a man of purer integrity, more dispassionate, dis- 
interested and devoted to pure Republicanism ; nor could I in 
the whole scope of America and Europe point out an abler 
head." 

Mrs. Madison long survived her husband, and died in Wash- 
ington on the 1 2th of July, 1849. 



JAMES MONROE. 

JAMES MONROE was born in Westmoreland County, 
Virginia, on the 28th of April, 1758. His father was 
Colonel Spence Monroe, a planter of ample means, who was 
descended from Captain Monroe, an officer in the army of 
Charles I., who emigrated to Virginia about the year 1652. 
His family was one of the oldest and most esteemed in 
Virginia. 

At an early age young Monroe was sent to school to the 
Rev. Mr. Campbell, of Westmoreland. One of his fellow pupils 
at this school was a tall, awkward lad from Fauquier, named 
John Marshall, afterwards the great Chief Justice of the 
United States. From Mr. Campbell's school, Monroe passed 
to William and Mary College at Williamsburg. He had been 
a student at college a little more than a year when the Decla- 
ration of Independence was signed. Though but eighteen 
years old he was full of patriotic ardor, and resolved to give up 
his hopes of obtaining a collegiate education, and devote his 
best efforts to the cause of his country. He therefore left 
college, and hastening northward, entered the army as a cadet. 
It was a trying and gloomy period in the fortunes of America. 
The enemy were preparing for an attack in overwhelming force 
upon New York, and the early enthusiasm of the country was 
dying out before the difficulties which were crowding upon it. 
Soon after joining the army Monroe was appointed a lieutenant 
in Captain William Washington's company, with which he 
made the campaign of the Hudson, He was present at the 
engagements of Harlem Heights and White Plains, and took 
part in the trying retreat of the American army across New 
Jersey. He was with the army at the crossing of the Dela- 
ware, and distinguished himself at the battle of Trenton. In 
hat engagement the advanced guard was led by Captain Wil- 
liam Washington, with Monroe as his second in command. 
The enemy's pickets were surprised and driven in, and a way 
28 ( 433 ) 



434 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

was opened for the American artillery, which at once unlim- 
bered and began firing. Early in the engagement the enemy 
attempted to plant a battery of two guns in the main street of 
the town, from which a raking fire would soon have been 
directed upon the Americans. Perceiving this. Captain Wash- 
i'lgton and Lieutenant Monroe dashed forward with their com- 
pany, drove the British from their guns, and took the two 
pieces when on the point of being fired. In this affair Captain 
Washington was wounded in the wrist, and Monroe in the 
shoulder. Captain Washington was promoted for his gallant 
conduct, and Monroe was rewarded with the command of his 
company. He was soon after appointed aide-de-camp to Lord 
Stirling, with the rank of major, and won fresh distinction by 
his gallant and efficient services at the Brandywine, German- 
town and Monmouth. 

By his transfer to the staff Monroe lost his chance of pro- 
motion, and in order to regain it decided to return to the line. 
lie went to Virginia, where he endeavored to raise a regiment 
under authority from General Washington and the Legislature 
of Virginia. He was unsuccessful in his efforts, and having 
lost his place in the army resolved to devote himself to the 
study of the law under Mr. Jefferson, who was then Governor 
of Virginia. He continued his studies until Cornwallis entered 
Virginia in his northward advance from Wilmington, when he 
again took the field as a volunteer, and continued with the 
army until the surrender of the British forces at Yorktown, in 
1 78 1. He then went back to his law studies, and in 1782 
received his license to practice. 

In 1782, Mr. Monroe was elected to the Legislature of Vir- 
ginia, from the county of King George. He was but twenty- 
four years old; but such was his ability and tact as a legislator, 
that in 1783 the Legislature elected him a delegate from Vir- 
ginia to the Congress of the United States. In that body he 
was regarded as one of the working members, and fully justi- 
fied his reputation by his industry and zeal. In 1785, having 
become satisfied that the powers of Congress, under the Con- 
federation, were far too limited to allow it to conduct the gov- 
ernment of the country properly, he endeavored to enlarge 
them by offering a resolution that Congress should be given 



JAMES MONROE. 435 

the power to regulate trade. When the proposal for a Federal 
Convention to amend the Articles of Confederation was made, 
he gave it his hearty support. While in attendance upon 
Congress, Mr. Monroe married Miss Kortw right, a beautiful 
and accomplished lady of New York. His term of office ex- 
pired in 1786, and in the latter part of that year he established 
himself at Fredericksburg, Virginia, with the intention of com- 
mencing the practice of law. 

He was not allowed to withdraw from political life, however, 
and in 1787 was elected to the Legislature. The next year 
he was sent to the Convention of Virginia, which was to de- 
cide the ratification of the Federal Constitution. As much as 
he desired a closer and more perfect union of the States, Mr. 
Monroe did not approve the Constitution without certain radi- 
cal amendments. He feared that the great powers committed 
to the General Government would destroy the independence 
of the States and the liberties of the people. He therefore 
sided with Patrick Henry and George Mason in opposing the 
Constitution, and voted against its ratification. 

Though the Constitution was accepted by the Convention, 
its opponents, as we have stated in the sketch of Mr. Henry, 
had sufficient strength to control the elections for members of 
the two Houses of Congress under it. Mr. Grayson, one of 
the United States Senators from Virginia, died within a short 
time of the organization of the Government, and Mr. Monroe 
was elected to fill his unexpired term. He took his seat in 
the Senate of the United States in 1790, and remained a mem- 
ber of that body until 1794. 

In 1794, the French Government, having complied with the 
demand of the United States for the removal of M. Genet, re- 
quested, as an act of reciprocity, the recall of Gouverneur Morris, 
the American Minister at Paris, whose political .sympathies 
were with the defeated aristocratic party of France. President 
Washington promptly complied with this request, and at the 
instance of Mr. Jefferson, appointed Mr. Monroe to succeed 
Morris. Mr. Monroe accepted the appointment, and, resigning 
his seat in the Senate, proceeded at once to his post. He 
arrived in Paris a few days after the execution of Robespierre 
and his associates had brought the Rei<jn of Terror to an end. 



436 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

He was given a public reception by the National Convention, 
and was welcomed with an enthusiasm peculiarly French. He 
found himself one of the most popular men in Paris, and the 
first use he made of his popularity was to procure the release 
of Thomas Paine from his captivity in the Luxembourg. " He 
wrote consolingly to Paine in his prison, claiming him as an 
American citizen, concerning whose welfare Americans could 
not be indifferent, and for whom the President cherished a 
grateful regard. He received the sick and forlorn captive into 
his house, and entertained him for a year and a half" 

Monroe got on very well in France until the negotiation of 
Jay's Treaty gave rise to the misunderstanding between the 
United States and France, which resulted in hostilities in 
the next administration. " Mr. Monroe, when sent envoy tc 
France, had been especially instructed to explain the views and 
conduct of the United States in forming the treaty with Eng- 
land; and had been amply furnished with documents for the 
purpose. From his own letters it appeared, however, that he 
had omitted to use them. Whether this arose from undue at- 
tachment to France, from mistaken notions of American inter- 
ests, or from real dislike to the treaty, the result was the very 
evil he had been instructed to prevent. The French Govern- 
ment misconceived the views and conduct of the United States, 
suspected their policy in regard to Great Britain, and when 
aware that the House of Representatives would execute the 
treaty made by Jay, became bitter in their resentment. Symp- 
toms of this appeared in the capture of an American mer- 
chantman by a French privateer. Under these circums)tances 
it was deemed expedient by Washington and his Cabinet, to 
recall Mr. Monroe, and appoint another American citizen in 
his stead." ^ Mr. Monroe was therefore recalled in 1796, and 
Mr. Pinckney was appointed to succeed him. "Immediately 
after this appointment, which took place in July, despatches 
were received from Mr. Monroe, communicating complaints 
which had been addressed to him, against the American Gov- 
ernment, by M. de la Croix, French Minister of Exterior Rela- 
tions, and his reply to the same. His reply, though it failed 
to change the policy of the French Directory, was deemed 
able and satisfactory by the Executive." 

1 Irving's Life of Washington. Vol. V., pp. lif\-'2\2. 



JAMES MONROE. 437 

On his return from Europe Mr. Monroe published a vindica- 
tion of his course while Minister to France, and censured the 
Administration. He was elected to the Virginia Legislature 
immediately upon his arrival, and in 1799, was chosen by that 
body Governor of Virginia, which office he held for three 
years. 

President Jefferson, soon after his inauguration, began his 
efforts to purchase Louisiana from France. In 1802 Mr. Liv- 
ingston, the American Minister at Paris, was charged to open 
negotiations with the First Consul for that purpose. He could 
accomplish but little, however, and despaired of ultimate suc- 
cess. There was danger that the people of Kentucky and 
the western country would take forcible possession of New 
Orleans, and thus precipitate a fresh war with France. It was, 
therefore, of the highest importance that the negotiations 
should be brought to a speedy close, and Mr. Jefferson resolved 
to appoint another envoy to France to assist Mr. Livingston, 
and decided to send Mr. Monroe upon that mission. On 
the loth of January, 1803, he wrote to his friend: "I have but 
a moment to inform you that the fever into which the western 
mind is thrown by the affairs at New Orleans (denying the right 
of deposit), stimulated by the mercantile and generally Federal 
interest, threatens to overbear our peace. * * * * j 
shall to-morrow nominate you to the Senate for an extraordi- 
nary mission to France. * * * Pray work night and day 
to arrange your affairs for a temporary absence, perhaps a long 
one." Mr. Monroe's nomination was confirmed by the Senate, 
and by the middle of April he was in Paris. He was empowered 
to purchase the whole of Louisiana, if possible ; but, if not, to 
give two million dollars in cash for the island of New Orleans 
alone. 

When Mr. Monroe reached Paris, Napoleon had entirely 
abandoned the scheme he had formed of colonizing Louisi- 
ana upon a grand scale, and was applying all his energies to 
preparing for the new war with England which followed the 
rupture of the peace of Amiens. He was aware that he would 
have his hands full at home, and would be unable to defend 
the distant province of Louisiana, which would quickly fall a 
prize to the superior naval power of England. "The English," 



438 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

he said, "shall not have the Mississippi, which they covet, I 
have not a moment to lose in putting it out of their reach. I 
think of ceding it to the United States. * * If, however, I 
leave the least time to our enemies, I shall only transmit an 
empty title to those republicans whose friendship I seek. They 
only ask of me one town in Louisiana: but I already consider 
the colony as entirely lost; and it appears to me that in the 
hands of this growing power, it will be more useful to the 
policy, and even to the commerce of France, than if I should 
attempt to keep it." 

Such was the frame of mind in which Mr. Monroe found 
Napoleon. The First Consul wanted money, however, and 
instructed his Minister to demand one hundred million 
francs for Louisiana. Mr. Monroe lost no time in carr}ang the 
negotiation throilgh, and eighteen days after his arrival in 
Paris, a convention was signed by which the whole of Louisi- 
ana was purchased by the United States for the sum of fifteen 
millions of d ollars. The happy manner in which the negotia- 
tion was conducted reflected the highest credit upon Mr. Mon- 
roe's diplomatic abilities. 

Soon after the completion of the Louisiana purchase, Mr. 
Monroe was appointed by President Jefferson to succeed Rufus 
King as Minister to the Court of St. James. The relations 
between the United States and England at this time were any- 
thing but friendly, as we have stated elsewhere ; and the Presi- 
dent being anxious to settle the differences between the two 
countries amicably, associated Mr. Pinckney with Mr. Monroe 
for the negotiation of a treaty for this purpose. These gentle- 
men succeeded in arranging a treaty with Great Britain in 1807, 
which they regarded as favorable to the United States. Presi- 
dent Jefferson, as we have already stated, was not satisfied with 
it, and took the responsibility of rejecting it without sending it 
to the Senate. Mr. Canning, the British Foreign Minister, 
refused to continue the negotiation, and the efforts of Monroe 
and Pinckney therefore came to naught. Mr. Monroe at first 
resented the course of the President in rejecting the treaty, but 
a friendly correspondence removed his resentment, and restored 
the pleasant relations which had always existed between Mr. 
Jefferson and himself. 



JAMES MONROE. 439 

Upon the announcement of Mr. Jefferson's determination to 
retire from the Presidency, Mr. Monroe's claims to that office 
were advocated by a portion of the RepubHcan party. Mr. 
Madison was the choice of the majority of the party, how- 
ever, and was elected Mr. Jefferson's successor. Mr. Monroe 
considered himself badly treated by his party, and a coolness 
sprang up between Mr. Madison and himself Mr. Jefferson, 
however, succeded in healing the breach between them, and 
so prevented one in the Republican party. 

In 181 1 Mr. Monroe was again elected Governor of Vir- 
ginia, bift shortly after his election resigned that office to enter 
the Cabinet of President Madison, who had appointed him his 
Secretary of State. In September, 18 14, General Armstrong 
resigned the post of Secretary of War, and Mr. Monroe was 
temporarily transferred to the head of the War Department. 
In his new position he displayed an energy and vigor which 
did much to render the close of the war as creditable to the 
country as its opening had been disgraceful. He urged Con- 
gress to increase the army to a strength of lOO,oDO men, and 
to raise troops by a draft from the whole able-bodied male 
population. This proposal was very unpopular, but as he was 
convinced that it was the only way to put an efficient army in 
the field, he adhered to it with firmness. Fortunately the close 
of the war soon followed, and rendered the measure unneces- 
sary. He gave an efficient and determined support to the 
measures of the commanders of the army, and strained every 
facility of his department to supply their needs. Towards the 
close of 1 8 14, the question of the defence of New Orleans was 
presented to the consideration of the War Department. Mr. 
Monroe was for defending the city to the "last ditch," and in 
order to raise the funds necessary to enable General Jackson 
to cany out his measures for that purpose, pledged his private 
property. This patriotic act saved to the country not only 
New Orleans, but the whole of the lower Mississippi, and was 
rewarded by the brilliant victory of General Jackson over the 
British army on the 8th of January, 181 5. In August, 181 5, 
the war having been ended, Mr. Monroe resumed his place 
as Secretary of State, and held it until the close of Mr. Madi- 
son's administration. 



440 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

In iSi6 Mr. Monroe received the nomination of the Repub- 
Hcan party for the Presidency, and was elected by a handsome 
majority. He was inaugurated at Washington on the 4th of 
March, 1817. The administration of Mr. Monroe covered a 
period generally known in our history as "the era of good 
feeling." Party lines were almost blotted out, and the people, 
in their support of the national measures of the country, were 
more united than at any previous or subsequent time. A few 
months after his inauguration, President Monroe made a tour 
through the Eastern States. He was everywhere received with 
marked attention, and Boston, a strong Federalist city, did itself 
honor by the heartiness of the welcome it gave him. 

During the first term of Mr. Monroe, Florida was added to 
the territory of the Union by purchase from Spain, and he had 
thus the good fortune of being instrumental in removing the 
last traces of foreign dominion from the country which natur- 
ally belonged to the Republic. The other important measures 
of this administration were the perfecting of the National 
Bank, the gradual discharge of the public debt, the construc- 
tion of fortifications at prominent points along the coast, the 
increase of the navy, and the encouragement, by protective 
duties, of the manufactures of the country. During this ad- 
ministration also the General Government began to give its 
aid to the public works of the country, a policy which it has 
since pursued. Mr. Monroe was at first opposed to such grants 
by the Government, basing his objections upon Constitutional 
reasons; but gradually became more favorable to them, yielding 
his own views to the plainly expressed wishes of the people. 

In 1820 Mr. Monroe was reelected President of the United 
States, receiving every electoral vote but one. The great 
question of his second term was the Slavery contest, which 
was settled for the time, in 1820, by the Missouri Compromise. 
It agitated the country profoundly, and aroused grave fears for 
the perpetuity of the Union. The Compromise was effected 
mainly by the exertions of Henry Clay. By its terms Slavery 
was forever prohibited in the territories of the Union north of 
the line of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude. 

During Mr. Monroe's second administration, the Spanish 
Provinces of Mexico and South America succeeded in bringing 



JAMES MONROE. 44 1 

their struggle against their Mother Country to a triumphant 
close. Some time before this Henry Clay had exerted him- 
self to procure the recognition of their independence by the 
United States, but his efforts had been regarded as premature. 
In March, 1822, he succeeded, and a bill was passed by Con- 
gress in accordance with a recommendation of the President, 
recognizing the independence of Mexico and the South Amer- 
ican States, and providing for the establishment of diplomatic 
relations with them. The next year President Monroe, in his 
annual message to Congress, laid down the principle that "the 
American Continents, by the free and independent position 
they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be 
considered as subjects for future colonization by any European 
Power." This claim that America belongs to Republicanism, 
and is not to be the scene of European schemes of territorial 
aggrandizement, has since then been known as the " Monroe 
Doctrine," and has been regarded as one of the cardinal points 
of the policy of the American Government. 

In the last year of Mr. Monroe's Presidency, the venerable 
General Lafayette arrived in the United States on his second 
and last visit to this country. 

As President of the United States, Mr. Monroe firmly ad- 
hered to his own policy. He was accustomed to hear, with 
respect and attention, the opinions of his Cabinet, and the ar- 
guments by which they were supported; but after all made up 
his own mind, and carried out his decisions with firmness and 
vigor. His manner was generally placid and good-natured, 
but he often startled his associates by sudden bursts of pas- 
sion. 

" I recollect," says Mr. Stansbury, "an instance of this that 
is highly characteristic of the man. He had issued an order 
of some kind, I forget its particular nature, to Commodore 
Porter, while on a distant station, which that ardent and some- 
what independent officer took the liberty, for reasons deemed 
by him sufficient, to disregard. When the despatch came 
bearing this intelligence, the Secretary of the Navy himself 
waited on the President to communicate it. Monroe's face 
turned crimson; his eyes flashed fire; and starting up and 
pacing the room, he exclaimed, 'The fellow! does he dispute 



442 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

my orders? He shall fight me. I'll call him out the moment 
he gets home.' There spoke out the man. It was not the 
President of the United States who spoke, but it was James 
Monroe. Taking Porter's conduct as a personal affront, his 
very first idea was to call him to the field, and make him abide 
the issue at the pistol's mouth. A curious interview they 
would have had of it, had not the prudence of the Chief Magis- 
trate checked the fiery ardor of the soldier. Monroe's public 
conduct was eminent for prudence, and was always marked by 
good sense." 

As the close of his second term drew near, Mr. Monroe, in 
accordance with what had now become the recognized custom 
of the President, announceci his intention to retire from office. 
He was succeeded by John Quincy Adams, who was inaugur- 
ated on the 4th of March, 1825. 

Upon retiring from the 'Presidency, Mr. Monroe withdrew 
to his residence in Loudon County, Virginia. He was chosen 
a member of the Virginia Convention of 1827, and was unani- 
mously elected President of that body. A gentleman who 
was present thus speaks of his appearance in the Convention : 
"The want of the habit of public speaking was very conspicu- 
ous in several of the older members of the Convention, and in 
none more than Mr. Monroe. It was well known that he was 
never a very eloquent speaker; but in former days his speeches 
were said to be remarkable for plain common sense, expressed 
in clear and intelligible language. He had lost all this, no 
doubt from long disuse, before he came to the Convention. 
His ideas appeared to be confused, his delivery awkward, his 
manner perplexed, and his whole demeanor that of a man 
overwhelmed by the magnitude of his subject. To have 
judged from his speeches on the floor, one might very well 
have supposed that he had no clear perceptions upon any sub- 
ject, and that he had not mastered the particular one upon 
which he was engaged for the time being. 

" Yet those who know the histoiy of Mr. Monroe, are well 
aware that such was not the character of his mind. He was 
eminently a man of action; he saw his way clearly in every 
difficulty, political or diplomatic, and though he might not be 
able to point it out to others, he never lost it himself * * 



JAMES MONROE. 443 

Though no orator, Mr. Monroe was, nevertheless, listened to 
with great respect by the Convention. And he was entitled to 
be thus listened to. He had filled the highest offices, had 
been twice elected President of the United States, and had 
conducted one of the most successful administrations the 
country had ever known." • 

Mr. Monroe was compelled, by sickness, to withdraw from 
the Convention before its adjournment. In the summer of 
1830, having lost his wife, he removed to New York and took 
up his residence with his son-in-law, Mr. Gouvernor. He died 
in that city on the 4th of July, 1 831, at the age of seventy-two 
years, being the third ex-President who had died upon the 
anniversary of the nation's independence. His remains were 
interred in a cemetery on Second Street, in New York, but in 
the summer of 1859 were removed to Virginia, and were 
buried with imposing military ceremonies in Hollywood Ceme- 
tery, at Richmond. A tasteful mausoleum, erected by his na- 
tive State, marks his grave, which is situated in one of the 
loveliest portions of this beautiful cemetery. From it one 
looks down on the capital of Virginia, and upon the broad and 
majestic James bursting over its rocky falls and stretching 
away in the distance in a calm, deep flood. 




JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 

THE Adams family enjoys the exclusive honor of having 
furnished two of its members to the Presidency of the 
United States; and apart from this distinction we may add that, 
since the Colonial period of our history, its members have 
been eminent for their great abilities and for their public ser- 
vices. 

John Adams, whose history we have sketched in another 
part of this work, married Abigail Smith, and had surmounted 
his early difficulties, and was a rising young lawyer, when his 
oldest son, John Quincy Adams, was born at Boston, on the 
nth of July, 1767. He was named in memory of one of his 
great-grandfathers, who had been a man of eminence in Massa- 
chusetts about the beginning of the eighteenth century. 

The education of John Quincy was begun by his mother, 
who taught him the rudiments of English, and directed his 
attention to history and biography. In one of her letters to her 
husband, written while he was absent at his post in Congress, 
Mrs. Adams says: "I have taken a very great fondness for 
reading Rollin's 'Ancient History' since you left me. I am 
determined to go through with it, if possible, in these my days 
of solitude. I find great pleasure and entertainment from it, 
and I have persuaded Johnny to read me a page or two every 
day, and hope he will, from his desire to oblige me, entertain a 
fondness for it." 

When "Johnny" had almost completed his tenth year, he 
wrote the following letter to his father, which will show the 
progress he had made: 

" Braintree, June 3, 1777. 

" Dear Sir : I love to receive letters very well; much better than I love to write 
them. I make but a poor figure at composition. My head is much too ficklt,-. 
My thoughts are running after birds' eggs, play and trifles, till I get vexed wilii 
myself. Mamma has a troublesome task to keep me a studying. I own I am 
ashamed of myself. I have just entered the third volume of Rollin's History, but 
designed to have got half through it by this time. I am determined this week 

(444) 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 445 

l»i be more diligent. Mr. Thaxter is absent at Court. I have set myself a stint 
tliis week to read the third volume half out. If I can but keep my resolution, I 
may again at the end of the week give a better account of myself. I wish, sir, you 
would give me, in writing, some instructions with regard to the use of my time, and 
advise me how to proportion my studies and play, and I will keep them by me, and 
endeavor to follow them. 

" With the present determination of growing better, I am, dear sir, your son, 

"John Quincy Adams. 

" P. S. — Sir : If you will be so good as to favor me with a blank book, I will tran- 
scribe the most remarkable passages I meet with in my reading, which will serve 
to fix them upon my mind." 

In 1778 John Adams was appointed one of the American 
Commissioners to France in the place of Silas Deane,and sailed 
from Massachusetts Bay in the frigate Boston on the 13th of 
February of that year. He took John Quincy with him, in 
order to give him the advantages of education abroad. They 
remained in Paris about a year and a half, and during this time 
the boy attended a public school in that city. His leisure 
hours were passed mainly in the society of his father and Dr. 
Franklin, from whom he took his first lessons in statesmanship 
He was a faithful student, and advanced rapidly in his studies, 
to the great delight of his father, who was very anxious that 
his son should prepare himself to be of service to his countiy. 
The progress of the boy was highly commended by Franklin 
who was much attached to him. 

John Quincy returned to America with his father in the sum- 
mer of 1779. In November of that year Mr. Adams sailed on 
his second mission to Europe, taking passage in the French 
frigate that had brought him home. He was again accom- 
panied by John Quincy. On the voyage from France to 
America, the "Sensible" had brought the new French legation 
to the United States. Barbe de Marbois was the Secretary of 
this legation, and on the voyage out had taken a great interest 
in John Quincy, and "had been so much impressed by wha 
he saw of this youth, then only ten years old, that he sent hi.s 
father a special injunction to carry him back, to profit by the 
advantages of a European education." Upon reaching Paris 
John Quincy was placed at an academy, where he devoted him- 
self with diligence to his studies. 

When Mr, Adams left Paris in the summer of 1780, and 
repaired to Holland, he took his son with him, and placed him 



446 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

at school in Amsterdam. Soon after this he entered the Uni- 
versity of Leyden. 

In July, 178 1, John Quincy Adams may be said to have 
entered upon his public life. Francis Dana having been 
appointed Minister from the United States to Russia, was so 
much impressed with the young man that he appointed him his 
private secretary, though he was but fourteen years old, and 
took him with him to St. Petersburg. He held this position for 
fourteen months, discharging his duties to the entire satisfaction 
of Mr. Dana, and at the end of that time returned from Russia 
to Holland alone, and resumed his studies at the Hague. He 
went with his father to Paris in the autumn of 1782, and was 
present in that city at the signing of the preliminary and defi- 
nitive Treaties of Peace between the United States and Great 
Britain. He accompanied his father in the visit of the latter to 
England in the winter of 1783-4, and was with him in his try- 
ing voyage on his return to Holland in the early spring of 
1784. Mrs. Adams having joined her husband in the summer 
of 1784, John Quincy again had the advantage of his mother's 
society. The young man was apprehensive that his studies 
were being neglected, and in 1785 obtained leave to return to 
Massachusetts. He entered Harvard College, where he re- 
mained three years, graduating in 1788, with high honors, at 
the age of twenty-one. 

Having chosen the profession of his father, Mr. Adams, 
after leaving college, repaired to Newburyport, and began the 
study of the law under Theophilus Parsons, one of the most 
learned lawyers this country has ever produced. In due time 
he completed his studies, received his license to practice, and 
opened an office at Boston. He found it hard to struggle into 
business enough to support him, and for three or four years had 
an abundance of leisure time. 

The French Revolution, as we have stated elsewhere, en- 
tered largely into American politics, and this circumstance 
gave to Mr. Adams an opportunity of bringing himself more 
prominently and speedily before the public than he could hope 
to do in the exercise of his profession. With admirable skill 
he availed himself of the opportunity. In 1791 he published 
in the Boston Sentinel a series of papers over the signature of 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 44/ 

" Publicola," in which he discussed with great abiHty the events 
and ideas of the French Revolution, taking strong ground 
against the extreme views and acts of the Revolutionists. 
These articles were widely copied and extensively read in the 
United States, and were reprinted in England, where they 
received the especial praise of Fox and Windham. They were 
generally attributed both at home and abroad to the elder 
Adams. "They were not his, however," says Charles Francis 
Adams, " excepting so far as the son may have imbibed with his 
growth the principles which animated his father through life." 
In 1973 Mr. Adams published another series of articles in the 
Sentinel, under the signature of "Marcellus," in which he 
advocated a strict and impartial neutrality between the parties to 
the European struggle as the only course consistent with the 
interests of the United States. These papers were even more 
widely read than those of " Publicola," and did much towards 
inducing the people to support the policy of neutrality subse- 
quently resolved upon by Washington. The President was 
much impressed with them, and inquired for their author. 
They were in keeping with his own ideas on the subject, but 
were opposed to the prevailing sentiment of the countr^^ and 
he recognized the service thus rendered by the younger Adams. 
Somewhat later, Mr. Adams published another series of essays 
over the signature of " Columbus," reviewing the violent and 
insolent course of M. Genet, the French Minister to the 
United States. 

These writings made Mr. Adams a prominent man in the 
eyes of the public, and drew upon him the favorable considera- 
tion of the Federal Government. Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary 
of State, was so well pleased with the ability displayed by the 
younger Adams that he advised the President to employ him 
in the diplomatic service of the country. President Washing- 
ton readily accepted Jefferson's advice, having himself already 
formed a high opinion of Mr. Adams's talents, and on the 29th 
of May, 1794, appointed him Minister of the United States at 
the Hague. The appointment was confirmed the next day by 
the Senate. It was in the highest degree flattering to Mr. 
Adams. He was but twenty-seven years old at the time, and 
the appointment came to him entirely unsought. 



448 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Mr. Adams at once repaired to his post at the Hague. Hoi 
land was a prey to confusion and disorder in consequence of 
the French invasion, and in the course of a few months Mr. 
Adams, finding that he could accomplish nothing for his coun- 
try, became discouraged, and expressed a desire to resign. 
Upon learning of this wish, the President wrote to the elder 
Adams, begging him to use his influence to induce his son to 
remain at his post, and expressing his own belief that the 
young Minister, if patient, would one day enjoy the highest 
honors of the diplomatic service of his country. Encouraged 
by these sentiments so generously expressed, Mr. Adams 
abandoned all thought of relinquishing his post, and remained 
in Holland until the close of Washington's administration, dis- 
charging his duties with ability and discretion. 

Upon the accession of John Adams to the Presidency, in 
1796, he was perplexed to know what course to pursue toward 
his son, and consulted Washington upon the subject. The 
latter advised him not to think of withholding the promotion 
to which John Quincy Adams's services in Holland richly 
entitled him. He declared that he considered him the most 
valuable representative the country had abroad, and that the 
relationship between the President and the Minister should 
have no influence in depriving him of advancement when fairly 
won. President Adams thereupon appointed his son Minister 
to the Court of Berlin. 

During his residence at the Hague, Mr. Adams visited Lon- 
don to assist in the ratification of a commercial treaty with 
Great Britain. While in that city he met Miss Louisa Cath- 
erine Johnson, daughter of Joshua Johnson, United States 
Consul at London. This acquaintance resulted in his marriage 
to the young lady on the 26th of July, 1797. A few months 
later, he repaired to Berlin and entered upon the discharge of 
the duties of his new position. 

Mr. Adams's residence in Berlin was both pleasant and pro- 
fitable to him. He was enabled to perfect his knowledge of 
German, and translated Wieland's "Oberon" into English 
verse. He made the acquaintance of many eminent German 
scholars and poets, whose society he enjoyed keenly. In the 
summer of 1800, he made a pleasant tour through Silesia, and 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 449 

in a series of letters to a younger brother communicated his 
impressions of the country. These letters were published 
without his knowledge, and were reprinted in Europe. They 
contained much valuable information, and added considerably 
to the writer's literary reputation. 

Mr. Adams was eminently successful in his public services 
in Prussia. In 1798 he negotiated a commercial treaty with 
Sweden, and in 1801 concluded a similar treaty between the 
United States and Prussia. In these negotiations he held his 
own against the veteran diplomatists of those countries, and 
by his prudence, vigilance and penetration, added greatly to 
his growing fame. 

In March, 1801 John Adams retired from the Presidency, 
and with him the Federalist party passed out of power. As 
he wished to leave Mr. Jefferson unhampered by the presence 
of a son of the retiring President in one of the most important 
posts under the Government, one of his last official acts was 
to recall John Quincy Adams from Berlin. Mr. Adams there- 
fore returned to the United States in the summer of 1801. 

Mr. Adams had been absent from the country for eight 
years, and had consequently taken no part in the formation of 
either of the political parties into which the American people 
were divided. On his return he attached himself to neither, 
preferring to act with independence in any position he might 
assume. His reputation was too great, however, for him to 
remain in private life, and in 1802 he was elected to the Senate 
of Massachusetts, from the city of Boston. His course in 
that body was marked by a bold independence of party spirit 
which was thoroughly characteristic of him. In this case, it 
served to increase the esteem in which he was held by the 
people of his native State, and in 1803 he was elected to the 
Senate of the United States mainly by the votes of the Fed- 
eralist party. He was but thirty-six years old at the time, and 
was one of the youngest Senators in Congress. 

As he had been elected by Federalist votes, it was supposed 
that he would act with that party in Congress ; but from the 
first he gave evidence of his intention to follow his judgment 
and conscience rather than the will of any party in the dis- 
charge of his public duties. He supported the Embargo meas- 
29 



450 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



ures of President Jefferson, because he thought such a poHcy 
warranted by the course of England and France, and beheved 
that if faithfully carried out it would be efficacious in remedy- 
ing the evils from which the country was suffering. The Em- 
bargo, however, was bitterly opposed by the Federalist party, 
and Mr. Adams's support of it subjected him to a storm of abuse 
from that party. He was charged with acting from interested 
motives, and the Legislature of Massachusetts passed resolutions 
disapproving his course, and to make its displeasure still more 
marked, elected a Senator to succeed him at the expiration of 
his term. Mr. Adams was not the man to retain his seat un- 
der these conditions, and in March, 1808, resigned his Sena- 
torship, and became once more a private citizen. 

In the meantime he had been solicited to accept the Presi- 
dency of Harvard College, his literary fame being equal to his 
reputation as a statesman, but he declined the honor. In 1805 
he was elected Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres at Har- 
vard, and accepted the position on condition that it should not 
mterfere with his duties as a Senator of the United States. He 
entered upon his professorship in June, 1806, and held it for 
nearly three years, winning considerable credit by his lectures 
on rhetoric and eloquence. 

Mr. Jefferson was succeeded by Mr. Madison as President 
of the United States, on the 4th of March, 1809. The new 
President, among his first acts, appointed Mr. Adams Minister 
from the United States to Russia. Mr. Adams sailed for St. 
Petersburg in the summer of 1809, and was received with great 
friendliness by the Emperor Alexander, and was admitted to a 
personal intimacy with that monarch. During his absence 
abroad he was nominated by Mr. Madison to a seat on the 
Bench of the Supreme Court, made vacant by the death of 
Judge Gushing, and the nomination was confirmed by the Sen- 
ate, but was declined, Mr. Adams preferring to remain in the 
diplomatic service. 

Mr. Adams endeavored to turn the friendship with which the 
Russian Emperor regarded him to the advantage of his coun- 
try, and the Emperor Alexander was induced to offer his medi- 
ation between the United States and Great Britain, with a view 
to terminating the war between those powers, which had bro- 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 45 I 

ken out in the summer of 1812. The Russian offer was ac- 
cepted by President Madison, as we have related, and a Com- 
mission, with Mr. Adams at its head, was appointed to con- 
duct the negotiation. The offer was decHned by Great Britain, 
and nothing resulted from it. The British Government, how- 
ever, during the winter of 1813-14, notified the President of the 
United States that though it had declined the Russian offer, it 
was willingly to conduct direct negotiations with the United 
States. President Madison promptly responded to this over- 
ture, and to the Commission already in Europe, which con- 
sisted of Messrs. Adams, Bayard and Gallatin, added Henry 
Clay and Jonathan Russell. The negotiations were conducted 
at Ghent. Mr. Adams took a leading part in them, and con- 
tributed in a great measure to closing the war and securing the 
ends for which it was fought. His course was warmly ap- 
proved by the people and Government of the United States. 

In the spring of 181 5, after the return of peace, Messrs. 
Adams, Gallatin, and Clay were sent to London to conclude a 
commercial Treaty with Great Britain. This was speedily 
accomplished, and Mr. Adams was appointed by the President 
Minister to the Court of St. James. The prediction of Wash- 
ington was verified; John Quincy Adams now held the most 
important diplomatic post within the gift of his country. 

In March, 18 17, James Monroe was inaugurated President of 
the United States. He had been Secretary of State under Mr. 
Madison, and had had ample opportunity to observe the abili- 
ties of Mr. Adams, as displayed by his services abroad, and he 
at once offered him the important position of Secretary of 
State in his Cabinet. Mr. Adams accepted the position, and 
returned home in June, 18 17. His appointment gave general 
satisfaction, and the able and successful manner in which he 
conducted the intercourse of this country with foreign nations 
during the eight years of the Presidency of Mr. Monroe showed 
that the high opinion which his countrymen entertained of his 
powers as a statesman was well founded. 

In the campaign of 1824 all the candidates for the Presidency 
were taken from the Republican party, the Federalist party 
having disappeared from the political field. Mr. Adams was 
nominated and supported by the Eastern and Middle States. 



452 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHV. 

He was very reluctant to enter upon the contest, but consented 
to accept the nomination at the urgent request of a large body 
of devoted friends. His competitors were Henry Clay and 
Andrew Jackson, who divided the support of the West between 
them, and William H. Crawford, whose claims were supported 
by the South. Mr. Adams's friends embraced a large and pow- 
erful party. "The qualifications on which his supporters 
depended," says Mr. Seward, "and to which they called the 
attention of the American people, as reasons for elevating him 
to the head of the general government, may be summarily 
enumerated as follows: i. The purity of his private character 
— the simplicity of his personal habits — his unbending integ- 
rity and uprightness, even beyond suspicion. 2. His com- 
manding talents, and his acquirements both as a scholar and a 
statesman. 3. His love of country, his truly American feelings, 
in all that concerned the welfare and the honor of the United 
States. 4. His long experience in public affairs, especially his 
familiarity with our foreign relations, and his perfect knowledge 
of the institutions, the internal condition and policy of Euro- 
pean nations. 5. His advocacy of protection to domestic man- 
ufactures, and of a judicious system of internal improvements. 

The campaign of 1824 was marked by the most intense 
excitement, and the election failed to result in a choice by 
the people. The contest was thus thrown into the House of 
Representatives. On the 9th of February, 1825, that body 
proceeded to vote by States for President of the United States. 
The first ballot stood as follows : For John Quincy Adams, 13 
votes; for Andrew Jackson, 7 votes; for Wm. H. Crawford, 4 
votes. Mr. Adams was therefore declared elected President of 
the United States for four years from the 4th of March, 1825. 

The result of the ballot in the House of Representatives was 
announced to Mr. Adams in the following note from his friend. 
Senator King, of New York : 

" Senate Chamber, g February, 182J. 
" My Dear Sir : We have this moment heard the issue of the election, and I 
send you and your venerable father my aifectionate congratulations upon your 
choice as President of the United States on the first ballot of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. I include your father, as I consider your election as the best amends 
for the injustice of which he was made the victim. 

" To me and mine, the choice has been such as we have cordially hoped for and 
expected, Rufus King." 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 453 

Mr. Adams at once enclosed this note in the following letter 
to his father — then ninety years of age : 

" Washington, g February, 1825. 
" My Dear and Honored Father : The enclosed note from Mr. King wiU 
inform vou of the event of this day, upon which I can only offer you my congratu- 
lations, and ask your blessings and prayers. 

" Your affectionate and dutiful son, 

"John QuiNcy Adams." 

The choice of Mr. Adams by the House was bitterly 
resented by the friends of General Jackson, who had received 
fifteen more votes in the Electoral College than his successful 
competitor; but as Mr. Adams had received the largest popu- 
lar vote, the House, in its action, simply gave effect to the ex- 
pression of the will of the people. John C. Calhoun had been 
chosen Vice-President by the Electoral College. 

Mr. Adams was inaugurated President of the United States, 
with imposing ceremonies, at Washington, on the 4th of March, 
1826. His administration was one of remarkable prosperity. 
The country was growing wealthier by the rapid advance of 
its agriculture, manufactures, and commerce ; and abroad it 
commanded the respect of the world. The Erie Canal was 
completed during this administration, and the construction of 
our magnificent railway system was begun. Mr. Adams was 
a constant and energetic advocate of governmental aid to the 
internal improvements of the country, and supported the Pro- 
tective system by which our manufactures were built up. His 
ceaseless aim was to conciliate all parties, and to secure their 
support for the measures best calculated to make the Union 
strong and prosperous at home and respected abroad. 

The opposition in Congress was very strong and very ac- 
tive throughout this administration. The Tariff and the Pro- 
tective policy were the great questions of the day. The East- 
ern and Middle States were overwhelmingly in favor of a 
Protective Tariff; the South was a unit against that measure. 
The Tariff Bill of 1828 was approved by the President, and 
his course was bitterly denounced by the opposition. The 
President's schemes of internal improvement were also ardently 
opposed by this party. 

Mr. Adams displayed, as President, the same independence 



454 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of thought and action that had marked his previous career. 
While this quahty won him the praise of thoughtful and disin- 
terested citizens, it rendered him unpopular with the great 
mass of the people, who were nevertheless forced to accord 
him their profound respect. " Mr. Adams's temperament," 
says Mr. Stansbury, "was peculiar, his manner and address 
cold, if not repulsive, and his mode of shaking hands espe- 
cially, so much so that it attained an unenviable celebrity as 
'the pump-handle shake.' He had been much abroad, had 
seen mankind, and appeared not to trust them. He flattered 
no man, and was not to be controlled by flattery from others. 
An old diplomatist himself, he was proof against all the 
approaches of the diplomatists of other governments. They 
could make nothing of him. He listened to their polite 
speeches, smiled and coldly bowed, but then went to business. 
His keen and piercing eye was kept steadily nd rem. Beneath 
the coldest manners, he possessed a depth and a power of pas- 
sion as great as I ever witnessed in any human being. It 
seemed as if his soul glowed with an intensity precisely pro- 
portioned to the icy exterior which he presented to a stranger. 
This, it is true, was not so fully developed during his Presi- . 
dency as afterwards, when he came into the House of Repre- 
sentatives. There his passions were called out into open play, 
and they often rose into a perfect storm. * * When attacked, 
or reflected on, he kept it in memory; and the first moment the 
occasion presented, never failed to repay, and with a fearful 
accumulation of interest. He was one of the last men a pru- 
dent man would assail in a deliberative body. He was a most 
able debater ; skilled in dialectics, a practised, ready and forci- 
ble speaker, with a piercing voice, an iron memory, and such 
an array of facts on every subject he handled, as rendered 
him one of the most formidable adversaries any man could 
provoke. Staunch to his purpose, not to be baffled, not to be 
wearied, he pressed his point with a pertinacity and persevering 
vigor, both of intellect and passion, that was rarely withstood. 
"One thing which powerfully helped him in the duties of 
his office was his habits of indefatigable application. So far as 
it was practicable, he read over all the papers connected with 
every question submitted to him. He trusted to no man's rep- 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 455 

resentations where he could see with his own eyes. I have 
seen, in his business-room, in the Presidential mansion, a table 
at least twenty feet long and ten feet wide, covered thickly with 
papers, in bundles, to the depth of a foot, all of which he would 
at least look at, and the more important of which he would 
read through. To get time for this, he rose before the sun, and 
sat up late at night. He had two excellent preparations for 
business: One was his constant habit of bathing in the Poto- 
mac by dawn of day ; the other, and far better one, was to read 
a chapter of the Bible before he touched a paper. Gentlemen 
have told me that they have often tried to anticipate the Presi- 
dent in his morning bath, but never could succeed; come as 
early as they would, the old man was in the river, his bald 
head ducking and diving like a sea-fowl, and all of his motions 
indicating the lively enjoyment he experienced from a play in 
his favorite element. He was an excellent swimmer, and as 
much at home in the water as a duck." 

In 1828, Mr. Adams was a candidate for reelection to the 
Presidency. The contest was very determined, and resulted 
in the election of Andrew Jackson by a large majority. Gen. 
Jackson entered upon his duties on the 4th of March, 1829, 
and Mr. Adams retired to his home at Quincy, which he had 
inherited from his father. 

Mr. Adams now devoted himself to literary and scientific 
labors, and hoped to continue a private citizen. His hope was 
not to be realized, however, and he was to spend the remainder 
of his days in the service of his country. In 1830 the people 
of the Plymouth District nominated him for the House of Rep- 
resentatives in the Congress of the United States. It was gen- 
erally supposed that having held the highest office in the gift 
of the nation, he would decline this nomination, but to the sur- 
prise of the whole country, he accepted it. It was his convic- 
tion that a citizen's services belong to his country in whatever 
capacity she may choose to claim them, and he was willing to 
serve her in any position in which he could do good. He was 
elected by a handsome majority, and was regularly returned 
by his constituents until the close of his life, seventeen years 
later. 

By his course in Congress Mr. Adams fully sustained his 



456 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

splendid reputation. He was bold and independent in the pur- 
suit of the thing he believed to be right, and no man was less 
influenced by party ties. He was universally respected, and 
even his enemies did justice to his ability and integrity. He 
generally acted with the Whig party in opposing the adminis- 
trations of Jackson and Van Buren, but when he thought the 
measures of the Government deserving of his support, did not 
hesitate to give it. He was a ready and able debater, and his 
remarkable powers won him from Congress and from the 
country the title of "the old man eloquent." He was a stern 
and uncompromising opponent of slavery, and was the leader 
of the anti-slavery party of the House. This feeling led him 
to oppose the annexation of Texas. His course with regard to 
slavery drew upon him a storm of denunciation from the advo- 
cates of that system, and he was threatened with expulsion 
from the House, and even with assassination ;■ but he never 
swerved from what he regarded as the line of his duty. On all 
other subjects he was listened to by the House with respect 
and attention. One of the most striking instances of his influ- 
ence over that body is thus related by "An Old Colony Man" 
in his "Reminiscences of John Quincy Adams:" 

"On the opening of the 26th Congress, in December, 1839, 
in consequence of a two-fold delegation from New Jersey, the 
House was unable, for some time, to complete its organization, 
and presented to the country and to the world the perilous and 
discreditable aspect of the assembled representatives of the 
people, unable to form themselves into a constitutional body. 
On first assembling, the House has no officers, and the clerk of 
the preceding Congress acts, by usage, as chairman of the body 
till a Speaker is chosen. On this occasion, after reaching the 
State of New Jersey, the acting clerk declined to proceed in 
calling the roll, and refused to entertain any of the motions 
which were made for the purpose of extricating the House 
from its embarrassment. Many of the ablest and most judi- 
cious members had addressed the House in vain, and there was 
nothing but confusion and disorder in prospect. 

"The fourth day opened, and still confusion was triumphant. 
* * Mr. Adams, from the opening of this scene of confusion 
and anarchy, had maintained a profound silence. He appeared 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 457 

to be engaged most of the time in writing. To a common 
observer, he seemed to be reckless of everything around him — 
but nothing, not the sHghtest incident, escaped him. The 
fourth day of the struggle had now commenced ; Mr. Hugh 
H. Garland, the clerk, was directed to call the roll again. 

" He commenced with Maine, as was usual in those days, and 
was ])roceeding towards Massachusetts. I turned and saw that 
Mr. Adams was ready to get the floor at the earliest moment 
possible. His keen eye was riveted on the clerk; his hands 
clasped the front edge of his desk, where he always placed 
them to assist him in rising, 

'"New Jersey!' ejaculated Mr. Hugh H. Garland, 'and the 
clerk has to repeat that — 

" Mr. Adams sprang to the floor. 

"'I rise to interrupt the clerk,' was his first ejaculation. 

"'Silence! silence!' resounded through the hall; 'hear him, 
hear him. Hear what he has to say! Hear John Quincy 
Adams!' was the unanimous ejaculation on all sides. In an 
instant the most profound silence reigned throughout the hall 
— you might have heard a leaf of paper drop in any part of it 
— and every eye was riveted on the venerable Nestor of Massa- 
chusetts. He paused for a moment; and, having given Mr. 
Garland a 'withering look,' he proceeded to address the multi- 
tude. 

"'It was not my intention,' said he, 'to take any part in these 
extraordinary proceedings. I had hoped that this House would 
succeed in organizing itself; that a speaker and clerk would be 
elected, and that the ordinary business of legislation would be 
progressed in. This is not the time, or place, to discuss the 
merits of the conflicting claimants for seats from New Jersey; 
that subject belongs to the House of Representatives, which, 
by the Constitution, is made the ultimate arbiter of the qualifi- 
cations of its members. But what a spectacle we here present! 
We degrade and disgrace ourselves; we degrade and disgrace 
our constituents and the country. We do not, and cannot 
organize; and why? Because the clerk of this House, the mere 
clerk, whom we create, whom we employ, and whose existence 
depends upon our will, usurps the throne, and sets us, the rep- 
resentatives, the vicegerents of the whole American people, at 



458 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

defiance, and holds us in contempt ! And what is this clerk of 
yours ? Is he to control the destinies of sixteen millions of 
freemen ? Is he to suspend, by his mere negative, the func- 
tions of government, and to put an end to this Congress ? He 
refuses to call the roll ! It is in your power to compel him to 
call it, if he will not do it voluntarily,' (Here he was inter- 
rupted by a member, who said that he was authorized to say 
that compulsion could not reach the clerk, who had avowed 
that he would resign rather than call the State of New Jersey.) 
'Well, sir, then let him resign,' continued Mr. Adams, 'and we 
may possibly discover some way by which we can get along 
without the aid of his all-powerful talent, learning, and genius. 
If we cannot organize in any other way — if this clerk of yours 
will not consent to our discharging the trusts confided to us by 
our constituents — then let us imitate the example of the Vir- 
ginia House of Burgesses, which, when the Colonial Governor 
Dinwiddle ordered it to disperse, refused to obey the imper- 
ious and insulting mandate, and like men ' 

" The multitude could not contain or repress their enthusi- 
asm any longer, but saluted the eloquent and indignant speaker, 
and interrupted him with loud and deafening cheers, which 
seemed to shake the capitol to its centre. * * 

" Having, by this powerful appeal, brought the yet unorgan- 
ized assembly to a perception of its hazardous position, he 
submitted a motion requiring the acting clerk to proceed in 
calling the roll. This and similar motions had already been 
made by other members. The difficulty was that the acting 
clerk declined to entertain them. Accordingly, Mr. Adams 
was immediately interrupted by a burst of voices demanding, 
'How shall the question be put?' 'Who will put the ques- 
tion ?' The voice of Mr. Adams was heard above the tumult, 
'I intend to put the question myself!' That word brought 
order out of chaos. There was the master mind. 

"As soon as the multitude had recovered itself, and the ex- 
citement of irrepressible enthusiasm had abated, Mr. Richard 
Barnwell Rhett, of South Carolina, leaped upon one of the 
desks, waved his hand, and exclaimed: 

"'I move that the Honorable John Quincy Adams take the 
chair of the Speaker of this House, and officiate as presiding 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 459 

officer, till the House be organized by the election of its con- 
stitutional officers ! As many as are agreed to this will say 
ay ; those' 

" He had not an opportunity to complete the sentence, for 
one universal ay responded to the nomination. 

" Hereupon, it was moved and ordered that Lewis Williams, 
of North Carolina, and Richard Barnwell Rhett, conduct John 
Quincy Adams to the chair. 

" Well did Mr. Wise, of Virginia, say, ' Sir, I regard it as the 
proudest hour of your life; and if, when you shall be gathered 
to your fathers, I were asked to select the words which, in my 
judgment, are best calculated to give at once the character of 
the man, I would inscribe upon your tomb this sentence, ' I 
will put the question myself!' " 

A few years before his death it was the good fortune of Mr. 
Adams to render a great service to humanity, and to afford a 
striking illustration of his devotion to the rights of man. A 
ship-load of Africans had been stolen from their native land 
and smuggled into Cuba, in defiance of the law of nations. 
Thirty-six of them were purchased from their captors by two 
Spanish planters named Ruiz and Montes, who embarked them 
in the schooner "Amistad," and sailed for Guanaja, Cuba. On 
the third day out from Havana, the negroes rose in an attempt to 
recover their liberty, and murdered the master and crew of the 
vessel, sparing only the lives of Ruiz and Montes, their pur- 
chasers, whom they compelled to navigate the vessel. The 
negroes ordered the Spaniards to direct the course of the ves- 
sel to the coast of Africa, but the latter brought her to the 
coast of the United States, which they reached off the eastern 
end of Long Island. They were overhauled by the U. S. 
Coast Survey brig Washington, Lieut. Gedney, and carried 
into New London. The two Spaniards claimed the negroes as 
their property, and the Spanish Minister at Washington de- 
manded of the President their surrender in order that they 
might be carried back to Havana and tried for piracy and 
murder. The case was submitted to the District Court of Con- 
necticut, and in the meantime President Van Buren ordered a 
Government schooner to be held in readiness at New Haven 
to convey the negroes back to Havana, should such be the 
decision of the Court. The Court, however, decided that the 



460 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Government of the United States had no authority to return 
them to slavery, and ordered that they should be conveyed to 
their native country in a vessel of the United States. The case 
was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States by 
the District Attorney. 

The matter excited great interest throughout the country. 
In the Northern States there was a general sympathy with the 
Africans, and the hope was universally expressed that the 
Supreme Court would confirm the decision of the lower tri- 
bunal. The Government would, of course, be represented by 
its own counsel ; but who would plead the cause of the poor 
negroes? At this juncture they found a champion in John 
Quincy Adams, who volunteered to defend them. " At the age 
of seventy-four," says Mr. Seward, "he appeared in the Supreme 
Court of the United States to advocate their cause. He entered 
upon this labor with the enthusiasm of a youthful barrister, and 
displayed forensic talents, a critical knowledge of law, and of 
the inalienable rights of man, which would have added to the 
renown of the most eminent jurists of the day." 

"When he went to the Supreme Court," says Theodore 
Parker, "after an absence of thirty years, and arose to defend 
a body of friendless negroes, torn from their home and most 
unjustly held in thrall — when he asked the judges to excuse 
him at once for the trembling faults of age and the inexperience 
of youth, having labored so long elsewhere that he had for- 
gotten the rules of court — when he summed up the conclusion 
of the whole matter, and brought before those judicial but yet 
moistening eyes, the great men he had once met there — Chase, 
Gushing, Martin, Livingston, and Marshall himself; and while 
he remembered that they were 'gone, gone, all gone,' re- 
membered also the eternal Justice that is never gone — the 
sight was sublime. It was not an old patrician of Rome, who 
had been Consul, Dictator, coming out of his retirement at the 
Senate's call, to stand in the Forum to levy new armies, mar- 
shal them to victory afresh, and gain thereby new laurels for his 
brow; but it was a plain citizen of America, who had held an 
office far greater than that of Consul, King, or Dictator, his 
hand reddened by no man's blood, expecting no honors, but 
coming in the name of justice, to plead for the slave for the 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 46 1 

poor barbarian negro of Africa, for Cinque and Grabbo, for 
their deeds comparing them to Harmodius and Aristogeiton, 
whose classic memory made each bosom thrill. That was 
worth all his honors — it was worth while to live fourscore years 
for that." 

Mr. Adams won his case. The Supreme Court decided that 
the negroes were entitled to their freedom, and ordered their 
unconditional release. Shortly afterwards they were aided by 
charitable persons to return to their native country. 

The vigorous health of Mr. j^dams at length began to give 
way. On the morning of the 20th of November, 1846, while 
at Boston, he was stricken down with a paralytic stroke. He 
was confined to his bed for several weeks, but recovered at 
length sufficiently to enable him to proceed to Washington, 
to take his place in Congress. He did not take as active a 
part in the debates as formerly, but was in his seat with his 
usual regularity. On the 21st of February, 1848, a resolution 
was offered in the House returning the thanks of Congress to 
several Generals of the army who had distinguished them- 
selves in the war with Mexico. Mr. Adams had just given his 
vote in favor of the resolution, when he was again stricken 
with paralysis. The members crowded around his insensible 
form, and the House adjourned. He was conveyed to the 
Speaker's room, and laid upon a sofa. The Senate adjourned 
as soon as informed of the sad event. The deepest anxiety was 
manifested on all sides. Mr. Adams lingered for two days, and 
expired on the evening of the 23d of February, 1848, in the 
eighty-first year of his age. Just before his death he mur- 
mured, "This is the end of earth — I am content," He died 
as he had lived, at the post of duty. 

After appropriate ceremonies in Washington, the remains 
of the dead statesman were conveyed to Massachusetts, and 
were buried by the side of his father and mother in the family 
buiying ground at Quincy. All along the route the people 
of the Union testified, by their public demonstrations, their 
sorrow for the loss of him who had proved himself one of the 
ablest statesmen, as well as one of the most disinterested, faith- 
ful and incorruptible public sei-vants the country has ever 
known. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 

ABOUT the year 1765 Andrew Jackson emigrated from 
Carrickfergus in Ireland, and settled in what was then 
called the Waxhaw district, about forty-five miles above Cam- 
den in South Carolina. He brought with him his wife and two 
sons, Hugh and Robert. The family were of the humblest 
condition in life, and the little farm upon which they settled 
barely afforded them a subsistence. It was there that Andrew 
Jackson, the youngest son and the subject of this memoir, was 
born on the 15th of March, 1767. Soon after the birth of 
young Andrew the elder Jackson died, leaving his widow to 
provide for her children by her own exertions. She was a 
woman of great strength of character, and executed the diffi- 
cult task which devolved upon her with success. Her elder 
sons were set to earning their own living as soon as possible ; 
but as she destined Andrew for the Presbyterian ministry, she 
determined to give him the advantages of an education. For 
this purpose he was sent to an old field school in the neighbor- 
hood. " Reading, writing, and arithmetic, were all the branches 
taught in that early day. Among a crowd of urchins seated on 
the slab benches of a school like this, fancy a tall, slender boy, 
with bright blue eyes, a freckled face, an abundance of hair, 
and clad in coarse copperas-colored cloth, with bare feet dang- 
ling and kicking, and you have in your mind's eye a picture of 
Andy as he appeared in his old field school days in the Wax- 
haw settlement." He gave no signs of future greatness, and 
the amount of learning within his reach was not such as to 
tax his brain too heavily. 

Andrew soon acquired the reputation of being the most 
mischievous boy in the neighborhood. He was always playing 
pranks, and always getting into trouble. He was daring and 
reckless, and generous to a fault; passionate and quick, and 
never willing to submit to a defeat. He was fond of athletic 
sports, and especially of running, leaping, and wrestling. Being 

(462) 




ANDREW JACKSON 



/ 



y; 



ANDREW JACKSON. 463 

slight of frame he was often thrown. " I could throw him 
three times out of four," one of his old schoolmates said in 
after years, "but he would never stay throwed. He was dead 
game, even then, and never would give up." He was a gener- 
ous friend and protector to younger boys, who acknowledged 
him as a leader, and would take any personal risk in their 
defense. "His equals and superiors found him self-willed, 
somewhat overbearing, easily offended, very irascible, and, upon 
the whole, 'difficult to get along with.' One of them said, 
many years after, in the heat of controversy, that of all the 
boys he had ever known, Andrew Jackson was the only bully 
who was not also a coward." 

Andrew remained at school until the war closed the "Acad- 
emy." When the Declaration of Independence was signed he 
was nine years old, and being rather a precocious boy, would 
listen eagerly to the accounts of the struggle with England 
which were related by his elders. His eldest brother, Hugh, 
joined the American army at an early period of the war, and 
was killed at the battle of Stono. Undiscouraged by this, 
Robert and Andrew Jackson, the latter now about fourteen, 
determined to take up arms in behalf of their country. Re- 
ceiving the permission of their mother, who was no less enthu- 
siastic in the cause, they joined a band of patriots. 

Just before they set out from home, occurred the Waxhaw 
Massacre, on the 29th of May, 1780, in which Tarleton, with 
300 British horsemen, surprised and cut to pieces a detach- 
ment of militia, killing 1 13 and wounding 150. The wounded, 
after the departure of the British, were collected in the Wax- 
haw meeting-house, which was used as a hospital, and were 
cared for by the settlers. Mrs. Jackson was very active in 
nursing the poor fellows, and her sons, Robert and Andrew, 
assisted her for three or four days. They thus had an oppor- 
tunity of seeing war in its sternest aspect, but it did not dis- 
courage them. 

The outrages of the British and Tories obliged the Wax- 
haw settlers to fly from their homes and seek refuge in North 
Carolina. Mrs. Jackson and her sons were among the number. 
Seeing their mother in a place of safety, Andrew and his 
brother joined a party of Waxhaw settlers under Colonel 



464 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Davie, and took part in Sumpter's attack on the British post 
at Hanging Rock on the 6th of August, 1780. 

The war in South CaroHna was a fierce partisan contest, 
waged with merciless fury on both sides. Father was arrayed 
against son,'and brother against brother, and neither party 
asked nor gave quarter. Andrew and Robert Jackson took 
their share in this strife, joining small parties that went out on 
single enterprises of retaliation, mounted on their own horses, 
and carrying their own guns. 

Shortly after the departure of Lord CornwalHs, from South 
Carolina, the Waxhaw settlers returned home from North Car- 
olina, the Jacksons among the number. Upon learning of this, 
Lord Rawdon, who was at Camden, despatched a force of 
British infantry and dragoons, and a detachment of Tories un- 
der Major Coffin, to capture them. The settlers determined to 
stand their ground this time, and fight for their homes. The 
Waxhaw meeting-house was appointed as the place of rendez- 
vous. On the designated day about forty of the settlers, includ- 
ing the two Jacksons, assembled there, in the expectation of 
being joined by a reinforcement under Captain Nesbit. They 
mistook the British and Tories, who wore the usual dress of the 
country, for this force, and did not perceive their error until they 
were attacked by the enemy. Eleven of the settlers were taken 
prisoners, and the rest escaped. Andrew and Robert Jackson 
were among the fugitives. They succeded in reaching a place 
of concealment in a neighboring swamp, but the next day 
were driven by hunger to a friend's house in search of food. 
There they were surprised and captured by the British and 
Tories, who also sacked the house in which the young men 
were taken, and insulted the lady and children who occupied 
it. While his men were pillaging the house, the British officer 
in command of the party ordered Andrew Jackson to clean 
the mud from his boots. The young hero indignantly refused 
to perform the menial service, and the enraged officer made a 
savage cut at him with his sword, which Andrew parried with 
his left hand, receiving a cut the scar of which he carried with 
him through life. The Briton then turned to Robert Jackson, 
and ordered him to clean his boots. Robert also refused, and 
the officer cut him over the head, inflicting a wound which 
subsequently proved fatal. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 465 

The Jackson boys, with about twenty other prisoners, were 
now mounted on captured horses, and sent on to Camden, and 
on the road were denied both food and water. Upon reaching 
Camden they were thrown into prison, and were treated with 
y^reat cruelty, their wounds being allowed to remain undressed 
and their food being of the coarsest quality and barely suffi- 
cient to sustain them. To add to the horrors of their captivity 
the small-pox broke out among the prisoners, and the brothers 
became infected with it. 

Shortly after the battle of Hobkirk's Hill, the two Jacksons, 
through the exertions of their mother, were exchanged with 
five other American prisoners. They reached their mother 
nearly naked, emaciated, hungry, and so feeble as to be scarcely 
able to stand. The wound in Robert's head had never been 
dressed, and the small-pox was just breaking out upon him. 
He was placed on one of the two horses which accompanied 
the party, and was held on it by his companions, and the other 
horse was given to his mother. In this way the party set out 
from Camden to the Waxhaws, forty miles distant. It was a 
melancholy journey, and when their home was nearly reached 
the party was overtaken by a severe rain storm which drenched 
them. Robert and Andrew Jackson both took cold; the for- 
mer died in two days, and Andrew, upon whom the small-pox 
had also broken out, became delirious. He was saved from 
death only by the careful and patient nursing of his mother. 
He recovered slowly, and had scarcely regained his health 
when his mother set out for Charleston with four or five other 
ladies to minister to the wants of the suffering American priso- 
ners on board the Charleston prison ship. While engaged in 
this noble work she was seized with the fever prevailing among 
the prisoners, and died. 

Andrew Jackson was now alone in the world, with no one to 
counsel or restrain him. He lingered at the Waxhaws until 
he had thoroughly recovered his health, and then took part in 
some of the partisan encounters which marked the close of the 
war in the South. The return of peace found him in posses- 
sion of a small farm, inherited from his father, without slaves, 
and without the means of working it properly. He was a wild, 
hair-brained lad, and was fond of cock-fighting and horse- 
30 



466 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

racing. At last he came to the conclusion that it was time to 
fit himself for the business of life, and having determined to 
study law, he converted what was left of his little property into 
money, and removed to Salisbury, North Carolina, where he 
became a student in the office of Spruce McCay, afterwards an 
eminent judge of that State. He was now eighteen years old, 
and he began to take a more serious view of life and its duties 
than he had yet done. "Nothing is more likely," says Mr. 
Parton, "than that he zvas a roaring, rollicking fellow, over- 
flowing with life and spirits, and rejoicing to engage in all the 
fun that was going; but I do not believe that he neglected his 
duties at the office to the extent to which Salisbury says he 
did. There are good reasons for doubting it. At no part of 
Jackson's career when we can get a look at him through a pair 
of trustworthy eyes, do we find him trifling with life. We find 
him often wrong, but always earnest. He never so much as 
raised a field of cotton which he did not have done in the best 
manner known to him. It was not in the nature of this young 
man to take a great deal of trouble to get a chance to study 
law, and then entirely throw away that chance. Of course he 
never became, in any proper sense of the word, a lazvyer; but 
that he was not diligent and eager in picking up the legal 
knowledge necessary for practice at that day will become less 
credible to the reader the more he knows of him." His legal 
studies were completed in 1786, when he received his license 
to practice. He devoted himself to his profession with indus- 
try and energ)^, and made many friends. He remained in 
North Carolina until 1788, winning the increased regard of his 
friends by his excellent qualities. 

He was now twenty-one years old, and had become satisfied 
that the eastern part of North Carolina offered but few induce- 
ments to a young man who wished to rise in the world. He 
therefore determined to emigrate beyond the mountains. The 
western part of North Carolina, which afterwards became the 
State of Tennessee, was recommended to him as offering many 
advantages to a young man in his position. Judge McNairy 
was about to start for the western counties to hold the first 
term of Supreme Court that had ever sat in that section of the 
State, and Jackson determined to accompany him. He reached 



ANDREW JACKSON. 46/ 

Nashville in October, 1786, and was so well pleased with the 
place and the opportunities it offered, that he determined to 
to make it his home. He applied himself with industry 
his profession, and so won the regard of the people among 
whom he had cast his lot that he was soon in possession of 
a comfortable practice. Shortly after his settlement in Nash- 
ville, the Governor of the State, without any solicitation on his 
part, appointed him State's Attorney for the western district, 
in which capacity he served for several years. 

Nashville was at this time but a village of log cabins, and 
the western border was still exposed to the attacks of the In- 
dians. Jackson greatly increased his popularity with the 
people of the western district by his gallant conduct in one 
or two expeditions against the savages in which he took part. 
He boarded in the family of Mrs. Donelson, a widow. Residing 
with Mrs. Donelson was her daughter, Rachel, "who had 
married a man by the name of Robards, in Kentucky, but had 
separated from him on account of his violent temper and 
vicious habits. Judge Overton and Jackson occupied another 
cabin, a few steps distant from that in which Mrs. Donelson 
lived, but met with her family at the same table. Mrs. Robards 
was as distinguished for her beauty, her sweetness of temper, 
and her winning deportment, as was her husband for the pos- 
session of the opposite qualities. Through the mediation of 
Judge Overton, Robards was at one time reconciled to his 
wife, rejoined her at Mrs. Donelson's, and commenced prepara- 
tions for erecting a cabin, on a tract of land that he had 
purcliased, in which he intended to reside. 

"Jackson was then a young man, frank and engaging in his 
manners, and fond of female society. He undoubtedly paid 
Mrs. Robards many flattering attentions, which — neither think- 
ing aught of evil, or cherishing an impure thought — were 
reciprocated as they deserved, with kindness and friendly 
esteem, but nothing more. So far from rendering her husband 
more morose and ill-tempered, this should only have led him to 
appreciate better her charms and social virtues, and encouraged 
him to become more pleasing and agreeable. But lagos were 
not wanting to instill the doubts and suspicions of jealousy, had 
not his gloomy and distrustful temperament predisposed him 



468 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

to such impressions. She was, in consequence, rendered very 
unhappy. On being made acquainted with this fact, Jackson 
sought an interview with her husband, and remonstrated with 
him, in a manly and honorable way. This was of no avail, and 
he then left Mrs. Donelson's, and took board at Mansker's 
Station. 

"The excited jealousy of the husband could not be allayed, 
however; and, in a few months, he abandoned his wife a second 
time, and started for Kentucky — declaring to a companion on 
the road, that he designed never to return. Mrs. Robards now 
determined that the separation should be final ; and on being 
afterwards informed that he intended to visit Tennessee, and 
take her back with him to Kentucky, under the advice of her 
friends, accompanied the family of Colonel Stark to Natchez, 
in the spring of 1791. Stark was an elderly man, and fearing 
that the Indians might attack him, he invited Jackson to make 
one of the party. The latter, perhaps unwisely — though he 
certainly never regretted it — accepted the invitation, and de- 
scended the rivers with them to Natchez. 

"Robards had previously applied to the Legislature of Vir- 
ginia for a divorce, and soon after the return of Jackson to 
Nashville, the intelligence was received that his application had 
been granted. Desirous of testifying to the world in the 
highest and most solemn manner, his confidence in her purity 
and innocence — pleased alike with the charms of her person and 
the graces of her mind, and deeming her at perfect liberty to 
form a new connection, Jackson forthwith repaired to Natchez, 
and tendered his hand to Mrs. Robards. She at first hesitated 
but finally accepted him. They were married in the fall, and 
she returned with him to the Cumberland, where she was 
greeted with the warm and affectionate congratulations of her 
relations and friends. 

"Two years after this marriage — in December, 1793 — Jack- 
son was on his way to Jonesborough with Judge Overton, 
when he learned for the first time, equally to his chagrin and 
surprise, that the intelligence received in 1791, and upon which 
he had acted, was incorrect. Robards had, in 1791, procured 
the passage of an act by the Virginia Legislature, authorizing 
a suit to be brought for a divorce in a court in Kentucky, which 



ANDREW JACKSON. 469 

suit had just been determined in his favor — no opposition of 
course being made to the proceedings. Communications be- 
tween the Atlantic country and the interior were then very irreg- 
ular, and the exact particulars of the affair were not known or 
inquired into, as it was universally supposed in Tennessee that 
the divorce had been actually granted. On his return home, 
in January, 1794, Jackson took out a license, and was now 
regularly married." 

The circumstances of this marriage were afterwards tortured 
by Jackson's political enemies into the grossest calumnies, 
which gave him inexpressible pain. The testimony of all par- 
ties who were witnesses to the affair is, however, that neither 
Jackson nor Mrs. Robards had any cause of regret save for the 
mistake which led them into a marriage which they regarded as 
legal, before the lady was entirely free from her first husband. 
His passion for her was pure and lofty, and had nothing base 
in it, and he would have died to shield her good name. She 
made him an excellent wife, and was always regarded with 
respect and affection by all her associates. 

After his marriage, Jackson devoted himself with redoubled 
ardor to his profession. About this time he discovered that 
extensive frauds had been committed in the North Carolina 
Land-office, and although he was no longer the District Attor- 
ney, he exposed them, and had the perpetrators tried and 
punished. Some of the most influential citizens of the Western 
District were concerned either directly or indirectly in these 
frauds, and Jackson's course drew upon him their powerful 
enmity. They endeavored in many ways to injure him; but 
heedless of them, he pursued his course, and by his firmness 
and independence greatly increased the number of his friends. 

In 1790, the Western district was formally ceded by North 
Carolina to the United States, and in 1794 the Territory of 
Tennessee was organized. The next year the preliminary 
steps were taken to secure its erection into a State, and Jack- 
son was chosen a delegate to the Convention which met at 
Knoxville for the purpose of framing a State Government in 
January, 1796. On the 1st of June, 1796, Tennessee was ad- 
mitted into the Union. The new State was entitled to one 
Representative in Congress, and Jackson was unanimously 



470 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

chosen to that position. He took his seat in the House of 
Representatives in December, 1796. The next year, having 
just reached the age prescribed by the Constitution, he was 
chosen a Senator from Tennessee, and took his seat in the 
Senate of the United States on the 22d of November, 1797. 
This was the session at which the Alien and Sedition Laws 
were passed. Jackson earnestly opposed them, and acted 
throughout his entire term with the Republican party. He 
became so much displeased with the measures of the adminis 
tration, that he resigned his seat in the Senate and returned to 
Tennessee in April, 1798. 

Upon his return home Jackson was appointed by the Legis- 
lature of Tennessee Judge of the Supreme Court of Law and 
Equity. He had not sought the appointment, and accepted it 
with diffidence. He held his first court at Jonesborough in 
the same year. Among the persons indicted by the grand 
jury was a man named Russell Bean, charged with cutting off 
the ears of his infant child. The fellow was a notorious des- 
perado, and the Sheriff was afraid to arrest him, though the 
wretch had the audacity to present himself in the court yard. 
The Sheriff made his return to the court that Bean would not 
be taken. Judge Jackson sternly told the Sheriff that such a 
return was absurd, and that he must arrest the man if he had 
to summon the posse comitatus to assist him. The Sheriff ac- 
cording summoned a posse, in which he included Judge Jack- 
son and his colleagues. As it was plain that the Sheriff de- 
sired to evade the performance of his duty, Jackson decided 
to accompany him, and learning that Bean was armed, took 
with him a loaded pistol. As soon as Bean caught sight of 
the Judge among \)!\q posse, he attempted to make his escape; 
but Jackson, presenting his pistol, sternly ordered him to halt 
and submit to the law, or take the conseqences. The fellow 
hesitated for a moment, and then threw down his arms and 
surrendered himself After that no one attempted to disregard 
the processes of Judge Jackson's Court. 

In 1 80 1 Jackson was appointed a Major-general by the 
Governor of the State, and was assigned the command of the 
division of militia made vacant by the death of General Con- 
way. In July, 1804, he resigned his position as Judge, and 



ANDREW JACKSON. 4/1 

retired to private life on a plantation he had purchased near 
Nashville. 

Previous to this, he had been anxious to be appointed Gov- 
ernor of the Territoiy of Louisiana, which had just been 
purchased from France. His claims were strongly urged for 
the place, but he would not consent to make the request in 
person of President Jefferson, although a firm supporter of the 
policy of the President. "Andrew Jackson," says Mr. Parton, 
in his " Life of Jefferson," " who was then getting tired of 
serving as Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, was 
strongly urged for the place; and because he had been urged, 
and because he would have liked the appointment, he refrained 
from calling upon the President when he was in Washington in 
April, 1804. So I gathered in Nashville from a yellow and 
musty letter of the learned judge — which was, perhaps, the 
worst spelled and most ungrammatical letter a judge of the 
Supreme Court ever wrote. He said that if he should call 
upon the President, it would be regarded as 'the act of a cour- 
teor ;' and, therefore, he 'traviled on, enjoying his own feelings.' 
He confessed, too, that the Governor of Louisiana ought to be 
acquainted with the French language. People can forgive bad 
spelling when it expresses sentiments so honorable ; and happy 
the President when expectants of office behave in so consider- 
ate a manner." 

General Jackson greatly enjoyed the retirement of his plan- 
tation. His fortune was moderate, but was sufficient for his 
wants. He superintended the labors on the plantation, often 
guiding the plow with his own hands, and conducting his 
affairs with a precision and method thoroughly characteristic 
of the man. He was very fond of society, and his house was 
always full of visitors. He was not to enjoy his good fortune 
long, however. He had formed a partnership with a merchant 
in Nashville, but took no part in the business, leaving every- 
thing to the management of his partner. Their affairs pros- 
pered for a while, but at length Jackson's suspicions were 
aroused. He examined the books of the firm, and found that 
they were not only insolvent, but that their liabilities exceeded 
their assets by a very considerable amount. To a man of his 
character, there was but one course to be pursued, and he did 



4/2 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

not hesitate to adopt it. He closed the business at once, sold 
his plantation, paid the debts of the firm, and removing to a log 
cabin on another plantation, began the world anew. Such a 
man could not long remain poor, and a few years of industry 
and economy placed him once more upon a prosperous footing. 

In 1812 war was declared by Congress against England. 
Jackson had expected it, for he had been an eager observer of 
the course of affairs. As may be supposed, he had not forgot- 
ten the wrongs he had suffered at the hands of the British in 
the Revolution, and he was not one of those who regarded the 
war with regret. He at once issued a stirring appeal to his 
division, and 2,500 of his men volunteered to serve under his 
orders wherever he might see fit to carry them. The services 
of this body were offered to the President, through the Gov- 
ernor of Tennessee, and were accepted. 

On the 1st of November, 1813, General Jackson was ordered 
by the Governor, in compliance with a requisition from the 
War Department, to equip a force of 1,500 infantry and rifle- 
men and descend the Mississippi and reenforce Gen. Wilkinson 
at New Orleans. He at once issued his call for volunteers, and 
by the loth of December over two thousand men had assem- 
bled at Nashville. Jackson promptly descended the Cumber- 
land and Mississippi rivers to Natchez, where he was met 
by an order from Gen. Wilkinson to halt and await further 
instructions from him. The order was complied with, and 
Jackson's command remained at Natchez until the middle of 
March, 18 13, when instructions were received from the Secre- 
tary of War to dismiss his troops, and turn over all the public 
property to Gen. Wilkinson. The execution of the mandate 
of the Secretary of War would have thrown the Tennessee 
troops helpless upon the world, far from their homes, and 
without the means of reaching them or of supplying the ordi- 
nary necessities of life. General Jackson determined to disobey 
the orders of the Government, to march his command back to 
the country where it was raised, and that too at the expense of 
the United States. General Wilkinson and others endeavored 
to persuade him from such a course, but he was inflexible. He 
obliged the quartermaster to provide transportation for the 
sick, and set out with his command for Tennessee, which was 



ANDREW JACKSON. 473 

reached after a fatiguing march. The troops were then dis- 
missed to their homes. Jackson's conduct was approved by 
President Madison, who ordered the expenses of the homeward 
march to be paid out of the Federal treasury. 

Toward the close of 1813 Jackson was again in the field. 
In the spring of 1813 Tecumseh, the famous Shawnee chief, 
visited the Creek tribes in the southwest and induced them to 
take up the hatchet against the Americans. His appeals were 
sustained by the representations of British agents, who pro- 
mised the savages assistance from England. In August seven 
hundred Creeks, led by Weatherford, their principal chief, 
attacked and captured Fort Mims, on the west bank of the 
Alabama, near the mouth of the Tombigbee. The garrison 
and between three and four hundred settlers, who had taken 
refuge in the fort, were massacred. This disaster spread a 
general alarm throughout Alabama. The settlements north of 
Mobile were abandoned, and the settlers fled down the river to 
that place for safety. 

The States of Tennessee and Georgia and the Territory of 
Mississippi promptly took measures to crush the savages. 
Tennessee placed a force of five thousand men in the field, and 
the command was conferred upon General Jackson. Though 
he was still suffering from a painful wound received in a duel 
with Colonel Thomias H. Benton, Jackson promptly assembled 
his troops, and marched into the Creek country, entering it 
before the troops from Georgia or Mississippi. The principal 
villages of the hostile Creeks lay on and near the Coosa and 
Tallapoosa rivers, and their hunting grounds extended much 
farther north. A number of unimportant encounters occurred 
between Jackson's troops and the Indians, and on the 3d of 
November he inflicted a stunning defeat upon them in the 
bloody battle of Tallasehatche. 

Among the prisoners taken in this engagement was an Indian 
babe, found clinging to the breast of his dead mother. Jack- 
son, touched with pity at the sight of the little one, endeavored 
to induce some of the captive women to take it and care for it ; 
but they refused. " All his people are dead," they said; "kill 
him too." Jackson caused the child to be fed, and subsequently 
sent it to Huntsville, where it was nursed at his expense. At 



474 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



the close of the campaign he took it with him to the Hermi- 
tage, where the httle orphan was tenderly raised and educated. 
When old enough, he was apprenticed to a saddler, but he 
pined for his native woods. Civilization was fatal to him, and he 
died of consumption before reaching manhood ; nursed during 
his last illness by Jackson and his wife, who mourned him with 
genuine affection. 

General Jackson established a post at the Ten Islands, on 
the right bank of the Coosa, which he named Fort Strother. 
His supplies began to run short, and the contractors were so 
remiss in their duty that " the army could not be furnished 
with regular rations, and it was hardly known one day what 
they were to subsist on the next." While matters were in this 
state, Jackson was informed that Fort Talladega, about thirty 
miles south of Fort Strother, which was occupied by a force of 
friendly Indians and their families, was threatened by a strong 
body of hostile Creeks. He at once marched to its relief, and 
on the 8th of November defeated the Creeks at Talladega, and 
pursued them hotly for several miles. This was a hard won 
victory for the Americans, and a terrible blow to the Creeks. 

The victorious army was obliged to retreat at once to Fort 
Strother, as its provisions were exhausted, and no supplies were 
to be had at Talladega. Fort Strother was reached on the i ith 
of November, but the contractors had failed to furnish pro- 
visions, and the troops were in danger of starvation. In con- 
sequence of this they became dissatisfied and mutinous, and 
were continually on the point of deserting their colors and 
returning home. Jackson was full of anxiety, but kept up a 
brave and determined spirit. He declared he would remain at 
Fort Strother if only two of his men would stand by him. The 
troops at last determined to abandon the post, and seek Fort 
Deposit, where they hoped to find provisions. Jackson argued 
with them, entreated them to return to their duty, and threat- 
ened them ; but without avail. At last, in sheer desperation, 
he seized a musket, threw it across his horse's neck, and plac- 
ing himself before the column, declared that he would shoot 
down the first man that moved a step in advance. The musket 
was too much out of order to be fired, and Jackson's wounded 
arm would not have allowed him to use it, but the mutineers 



ANDREW JACKSON. 475 

were not aware of this. They were awed by the stern and 
determined manner of their commander, and after a moment's 
hesitation returned to duty. During the winter the expiration 
of the enhstments of the men reduced Jackson's force to six 
hundred mihtia, two companies of spies, one of artillery, and a 
few volunteers. By urgent appeals to the Governor of Ten- 
nessee he succeeded in obtaining a force of eight hundred and 
fifty mounted men, who had volunteered for sixty days. They 
reached him on the 13th of January, 18 14. 

It was necessary to strike with promptness at the Indians, 
as the enlistments of these troops were for so brief a period. 
The Creeks had assumed the offensive, undaunted by their 
reverses of the previous year, and were concentrating in a bend 
of the Tallapoosa River, near the mouth of Emuckfaw Creek. 
Leaving a force to hold Fort Strother, Jackson set out with 
750 men on the i6th of January, 18 14, to attack the savages. 
At Talladega he was joined by 250 friendly Creeks and Chero- 
kees. On the 21st the army encamped in front of the Indian 
position at Emuckfaw, and was attacked by the savages before 
daybreak the next morning, the 22d. Jackson had anticipated 
such an attack, and was prepared for it. The Creeks met with 
a bloody defeat, and were pursued for over two miles. In 
spite of his victory, Jackson was obliged, by the failure of his 
provisions, to fall back to Fort Strother. On the 25th his 
army was again attacked at Enotchhopo, but repulsed the 
savages with heavy loss. Upon reaching Fort Strother the 
sixty days' men were dismissed with thanks for their good 
conduct. 

The brilliant successes of General Jackson in the Creek 
countiy had made him one of the most famous men in the 
Union, and volunteers were now found ready and anxious to 
serve under him. Early in February, he was joined by rein- 
forcements from Tennessee, amounting to about 5,000 men, 
and at the same time the Choctaws offered their services to 
him. 

The Creeks had their principal settlement at the Horseshoe 
Bend of the Tallapoosa. It was defended by a series of strong 
intrenchments garrisoned by a thousand picked warriors. Here 
they had rallied for a final stand against the whites. On the 



4/6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

1 6th of March, 1814, Jackson set out from Fort Strother, and 
advanced into the Indian country with a force of 4,000 Ten- 
nesseeans. On the march he detached a force to build Fort 
Wilhams, at the mouth of Cedar Creek, and with about 2,000 
men advanced to Horseshoe Bend. On the 26th of March he 
attacked the Indian camp at this place, and carried it after a 
desperate struggle, in which nearly 800 Indian warriors were 
slain. This victory utterly destroyed the Creeks as a tribe. 
They became a band of wretched fugitives, and were hunted 
and destroyed like wild beasts. 

Knowing that the Indian power was broken, Jackson con- 
tinued to advance into their country, and destroyed a number 
of their towns. In April he encamped at Hickory Ground, 
and many of the hostile chiefs and Indians came in and 
submitted to his terms of peace. Among these was Weather- 
ford. Jackson compelled the Indians to purchase peace by the 
surrender of more than two-thirds of their hunting grounds. 
They were required to retire to the country north of Fort 
William, and were informed that if their conduct was good 
they would be allowed to remain there unmolested, but that if 
they again became troublesome, they would be exterminated. 

The war being now ended, Jackson returned to Tennessee to 
recruit his health and strength, which had suffered considerably 
during the campaign. The remarkable endurance he had dis- 
played under the hardships demanded of him in his enfeebled 
condition, had won for him from his men the soubriquet of 
"Old Hickory," which he retained through life. He had 
entered upon the war an almost unknown man, and he now 
emerged from it with a national reputation. He had been one 
of the most successful, as well as one of the ablest and most 
energetic officers engaged in the struggle. 

The General Government, to mark its appreciation of his 
services, now appointed him a brigadier-general in the regular 
army of the United States, with the brevet rank of Major- 
General. Shortly afterwards General Harrison's resignation of 
his commission having created a vacancy in the list of major- 
generals, Jackson was given the full rank of Major-General. 

In the summer of 18 14 he was placed in command of the 
Seventh Military District, and established his headquarters at 



ANDREW JACKSON. 477 

Mobile. During the summer, he, together with Colonel Haw- 
kins, negotiated a favorable treaty with the Creek Nation, by 
which the latter pledged themselves not to take up arms against 
the United States during the continuance of the war with 
England. A small portion of the Nation, however, had taken 
refuge in Florida, and were not included in the Treaty. 

Reconnoisances made by trustworthy officers revealed the 
fact that the British had taken possession of Pensacola in 
Florida, which was Spanish territory. Several British vessels 
of war were in the harbor. Fort Barrancas was held by about 
three hundred British troops, a considerable quantity of arms 
and ammunition had been landed, and a large force of Indians 
was being organized and drilled by the British officers, and all 
this with the knowledge and consent of the Spanish Governor 
of Pensacola. On the 29th of August, Colonel Nicholls, the 
British commander at Pensacola, issued a proclamation ad- 
dressed to the people of the Southern and Southwestern 
States, calling upon them to join his standard against their 
countrymen, and informing them that he was "at the head of a 
large body of Indians well armed, disciplined, and commanded 
by British officers ; a good train of artillery, with every requi- 
site; seconded by the powerful aid of a numerous British and 
Spanish squadron of ships and vessels of war." 

Jackson was determined to put a stop to this movement as 
soon as possible. He despatched an express to the Governor 
of Tennessee, asking him to put the whole quota of the militia 
of that State in the field without delay, and in the meantime 
determined to drive the British from Pensacola. Before he 
could put this plan in operation. Colonel Nicholls, with four 
ships and a strong force of troops, appeared before Fort Bow- 
yer at the entrance to Mobile Bay, on the 15th of September, 
and attacked that work. The fort was defended by a garrison 
of 120 men, under Major Lawrence, and was defended with 
such spirit that the enemy were repulsed with the loss of one 
of their ships and over 200 men. They returned to Pensa- 
cola. 

In the meantime Jackson had continued his preparations for 
breaking up the band of British, Spanish, and Indians at Pen- 
sacola. He had no authority from the Federal Government 



478 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

for such a step, and, as Spain was nominally friendly to the 
United States, was aware that he was assuming a serious re- 
sponsibility in invading her territory; but as the Spanish Gov- 
ernor at Pensacola had sanctioned the violation of the neutrality 
of his country by the British, Jackson regarded himself as 
fully justified in attacking the place. He assumed a grave 
personal responsibility also, for his own Government might 
disavow his act, and dismiss him from the service. Neverthe- 
less, it was of the first importance to drive the British from 
Pensacola, which furnished them with a safe and convenient 
base for operations against either Mobile or New Orleans ; and 
he resolved to accomplish this without delay. 

Having received about 2,000 fresh troops from Tennessee, 
Jackson set out on the 2d of November, 18 14, with a force of 
over 3,000 men. A small part of these were regulars; the 
remainder were militia from Tennessee and Mississippi. On 
the 6th the American army arrived before Pensacola. The 
British and Spaniards had made preparations to resist. Jack- 
son sent a flag of truce to the Spanish Governor, informing 
him that he had come to drive the British from Pensacola, and 
demanding his cooperation in the attempt. The flag was fired 
upon and driven back by the batteries of the town. Jackson 
now made his dispositions to carry the town, which was done 
the next day after a short conflict, in which the British troops 
and their vessels in the bay participated. The Spanish Gov- 
ernor was forced to surrender Pensacola and its defences to 
General Jackson. The British withdrew to Fort Barrancas, 
which they evacuated and blew up a little later, and sailed 
away from the harbor. The Indians fled to the Everglades, 
and were pursued by a detachment from the American army. 

Having broken up the rendezvous at Pensacola, General 
Jackson returned to Mobile, which he feared would be the 
next object of attack. Upon reaching that city he began to put 
it in a state of defence. Late in November General Winches- 
ter arrived. Jackson placed this officer in command at Mobile, 
and transferred his own headquarters to New Orleans, having 
previously sent forward the Tennessee troops under General 
Coffee. 

New Orleans was at this time a city of about twenty thous- 



ANDREW JACKSON. 479 

and inhabitants, less than one half of whom were whites. The 
whites were principally of French birth or parentage, and cared 
little for the United States. They could not be relied upon to 
hold the city against the British, and were demoralized and 
insubordinate, and spies and traitors abounded among them. 
The defences of the city were in a miserable state. Jackson 
was aware that his only reliance was upon the few regulars he 
had with him — the Tennessee volunteers under General Coffee, 
and such troops as the States along the Mississippi and Ohio 
might be able to send him. His health was feeble at the time, 
and he was greatly oppressed with the difficulty of the task 
before him. At heart he was anxious and depressed, but to 
the public he presented a cheerful and determined front, and 
prepared with vigor to put the city in a state of defence. He 
proclaimed martial law, and put down with a firm hand the 
opposition to his measures for the safety of the city. He called 
for volunteers, and urged the freemen of color to enroll them- 
selves. They responded in great numbers. The prisons were 
were emptied, and the prisoners took their places in the ranks 
of the army. The services of Lafitte, a noted smuggler chief 
of Barataria bay, and of his band, were accepted. The British 
had endeavored to secure the aid of this band as pilots, as they 
knew the coast thoroughly, but Lafitte and his men refused to 
hold any communication with them. 

Jackson was right in believing that the next blow of the 
enemy would be struck at New Orleans, and w^hile he was en- 
gaged in his preparations, a British fleet arrived on the coast 
of Louisiana, and cast anchor off Lake Borgne, the shortest 
passage by water to New Orleans. It had on board a force of 
12,000 veteran troops, just released from the wars against Na- 
poleon, and 4,000 marines and sailors. The British army was 
commanded by Sir Edward Pakenham, the brother-in-law of 
the Duke of Wellington, and an officer of tried ability, and 
under him were Generals Gibbs, Keene and Lambert, veterans 
of the Peninsular War. 

The Americans had a small flotilla in Lake Borgne, and 
General Jackson, by extraordinary exertions, managed to col- 
lect a force of five thousand troops, only one thousand of whom 
were regulars. On the 14th of December, the British sent 



480 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

their boats into Lake Borgne, and after a severe engagement 
captured the American flotilla and opened the way to the city. 
On the 22d of December they landed twenty-four hundred 
men, under General Keene, who advanced to a point on the 
shores of the Mississippi, about nine miles below New Orleans. 
Jackson, unwilling to allow this force to obtain a lodgment so 
close to the city, attacked it on the night of the 23d with the 
regulars, and Coffee's Tennesseans dismounted, and drove the 
enemy a mile or two and forced them to take shelter behind 
the levee of the river, which served them as a breast work. 
The success of the Americans in this engagement greatly en- 
couraged them. 

The next day Jackson took a position on solid ground be- 
hind a broad and deep trench that extended across the Plain 
of Chalmette, from the Mississsippi, to an impassable swamp, 
and covered his position with intrenchments. The enemy, 
supposing his force to be much stronger than it really was, 
made no attempt to interfere with him for several days, and he 
employed this delay in strengthening his line. The British, 
on their part, pushed their advance, to a point opposite the 
American lines, and erected several batteries of heavy guns, 
from which, on the 28th of December, they opened a severe 
cannonade upon the American position. Jackson replied with 
his artillery, and the firing was continued for several hours with- 
out any definite result. On the ist of January, 1 8 1 5, the enemy 
attempted a second cannonade, but the American guns soon 
silenced their fire. On the 4th of January, a body of 2,200 
Kentucky riflemen, who had descended the Mississippi to his 
assistance, reached Jackson's camp. Only one-half of them 
were armed. As he could not supply the remainder with 
arms, Jackson set them to work to construct a second line of 
defences in the rear of his first position. 

Having finished his preparations, the British commander 
ordered a general assault to be made upon the American lines 
on the morning of the 8th of January. The attack was made 
in gallant style at the time appointed. The British centre was 
led by General Pakenham in person, and their right and left by 
Generals Gibbs and Keene. Jackson's force consisted of a lit- 
tle more than 5,000 men, and 16 pieces artillery. The enemy's 



ANDREW JACKSON, 48 1 

storming columns amounted in the aggregate to between six 
and seven thousand men, exclusive of their reserves. The open 
space over which the enemy were obliged to pass was com- 
pletely commanded by Jackson's guns. The British advanced 
m splendid style, suffering heavily from the rapid and accurate 
fire of the American batteries, but closed up their ranks and 
pressed on with firmness. As they came within musket shot 
of the works, the Tennessee and Kentucky riflemen opened a 
fatal fire upon them, which literally mowed them down. They 
bore up against it for awhile, but at length wavered and broke. 
General Pakenham attempted to rally them, but was shot down. 
Generals Gibbs and Keene were wounded while engaged in the 
same attempt, the latter mortally. The command then passed 
to General Lambert, who, seeing that the day was lost, made no 
further effort to storm the works, but withdrew his men to a 
place of safety, and sent in a flag of truce to General Jackson 
proposing an armistice until noon the next day, in order to 
attend to the work of burying the dead and relieving the 
wounded. This was granted. The American loss in the 
battle was seven killed and six wounded. The British lost two 
thousand men killed and wounded. 

The two armies held their position for several days after the 
8th, and the American batteries kept up a steady fire of balls 
and shells upon the British camp. On the nth the British 
squadron made an attempt to pass the forts on the lower 
Mississippi, but was driven back. General Lambert, now 
thoroughly disheartened, abandoned his position below New 
Orleans and fell back to the shore of the Gulf. Apprehensive 
that the enemy might renew the attack from another quarter, 
Jackson marched to New Orleans and occupied the city with 
his forces. His reception was enthusiastic by the citizens. 
The enemy made no further demonstrations against the city. 

In March one of the New Orleans papers announced that 
peace had been concluded between the United States and Great 
Britain. As he had not been officially informed of the treaty, 
General Jackson regarded this statement as an effort to intro- 
duce discontent among his troops. The journal referred to, at 
the same time, published other statements which were notor- 
iously false and dangerous, and Jackson demanded of the editor 
31 



482 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the retraction of all of them. As he refused to comply with 
this demand, the city being still under martial law he was 
arrested. Judge Hall, of New Orleans, issued a y^xxt oi habeas 
corp7is, but Jackson, instead of regarding it, arrested the Judge 
and sent him out of the city. " I have thought proper to send 
you beyond the limits of my encampment," he wrote to the 
Judge, "to prevent a repetition of the improper conduct with 
which you have been charged. You will remain without the 
line of my sentinels, until the ratification of peace is regularly 
announced, or until the British have left the Southern coast." 

Under the circumstances General Jackson was justified in 
this arbitrary action. The enemy were still on the coast, and 
though peace had been made, neither he nor the British com- 
mander had been informed of it, and it behooved him to watch 
over the safety of the city with the utmost vigilance. He had 
been obliged to proclaim martial law, and the safety of the 
country demanded that he should maintain it with the utmost 
strictness. He could not permit any interference with his 
orders. 

On the 13th of March, 181 5, the ofificial announcement of 
the close of the war was received at New Orleans, and was 
immediately proclaimed to the citizens. Judge Hall returned 
to the city, and issued an order for the arrest of General Jack- 
son for a contempt of Court in imprisoning the Judge. Jackson 
promptly submitted to the order, but was not allowed to make 
any defence, and was fined by the Judge in the sum of one 
thousand dollars. The Court room was filled with citizens, 
who manifested their disapproval of this order in a turbulent 
manner. They were silenced by Jackson, who promptly paid 
the fine, and refused the solicitations of the citizens of New 
Orleans to allow them to reimburse him. Shortly before the 
death of General Jackson, Congress refunded the fine, and thus 
did justice to him. 

At the close of the war Jackson returned to his home at 
Nashville, though he still retained the command of the South- 
ern Division. He was rewarded for his brilliant services by a 
gold medal voted him by order of Congress in honor of his 
victory at New Orleans, and by the thanks of Congress and of 
the Legislatures of many of the States. 



ANDREW JACKSON. 483 

After the close of the war with England, the Seminole In- 
dians of Florida began to be troublesome, and committed many- 
outrages along the American frontier. They were joined by 
the Creeks, and the Federal Government was compelled to 
interfere. General Gaines was sent by the War Department to 
protect the frontier. He built three forts, and endeavored to 
make peace with the Indians, but without success. Early in 
1818, a party of forty men, under Lieut. Scott, was attacked by 
the Seminoles at the mouth of the Flint river, and all but six, 
who escaped, were massacred. As soon as he was informed of 
this outrage, General Jackson raised a force of 2,500 men, and 
marched into the Indian country. On the 1st of April he 
reached the Mickasucky villages, which he found deserted. 
He burned them, laid waste the countiy, and killed or carried 
off the cattle. 

Being satisfied that the Indians were incited to their hostile 
acts by the Spaniards in Florida, Jackson now marched into 
Florida and seized St. Mark's on Appalachee Bay, the only 
fortified town of the Spaniards in that part of Florida. An 
armed American vessel, cruising off the Florida coast, hoisted 
the British colors, and two prominent hostile Creek chiefs were 
decoyed on board, and were suirimarily hanged by order of 
Jackson. Two British traders, Ambrister and Arbuthnot, by 
name, were captured by Jackson about the same time. They 
were accused of aiding the Indians against the United States, 
were tried and found guilty by a court martial, and were 
hanged. The Spanish Governor indignantly protested against 
the invasion of Florida, but Jackson, unmoved by his protest, 
advanced in May to Pensacola, the seat of thJfcSpanish provin- 
cial government, which place was immediately surrendered to 
him. The Spanish Governor fled to Fort Barrancas, below the 
town. Jackson attacked the fort, and compelled it to surrender 
after a brief resistance, and the Governor continued his flight 
to Havana. The invasion of Florida by Jackson drew forth an 
indignant protest from the Spanish Government, but his con- 
duct was sustained by a decisive majority in both Houses of 
Congress. The Spanish Government did not press the matter, 
and negotiations were entered upon which finally resulted in 
the purchase of Florida by the United States in 1821. 



484 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

On the 2d of June, 1818, General Jackson informed the 
Secretary of War that the hostilities of the Seminoles were at 
an end. A little later he returned to Nashville, and soon after 
resigned his commission in the regular army. 

In June, 1821, General Jackson was appointed by President 
Monroe Governor of Florida, which had just been purchased 
by the United States. In August he took possession of the 
territory in accordance with the terms of the cession. He 
held this position but a few months, and then resigned it and 
returned to Nashville. 

In the fall of 1823, he was elected by the Legislature of 
Tennessee to the Senate of the United States, and took his 
seat in that body in December. He cast his vote for the Pro- 
tective Tariff of 1824. In the campaign of 1824 General Jack- 
son was a candidate for the Presidency of the United States. 
There was no choice by the people, and the election passed 
into the House of Representatives, by which John Quincy 
Adams was chosen President. 

In 1825, having been nominated by the Legislature of Ten- 
nessee as Mr. Adams' successor. General Jackson resigned his 
seat in the Senate and withdrew to his home. In 1828 he 
was elected President by a handsome majority over Mr. Adams. 

Early in 1829 Mrs. Jackson died. This was a severe blow 
to the General, but he bore it with firmness and resignation. 
On the 4th of March, 1829, he was inaugurated President of 
the United States. Although he had been elected by an over- 
whelming majority of the votes of his countrymen, his entrance 
upon his office was regarded with no little anxiety, for while 
his merits as a s0dier were conceded by all, it was feared that 
his imperious temper would seriously disqualify him for the 
delicate duties of the Presidency. Nature had made him a 
statesman as well as a soldier, however, and his administration 
was marked by the fearless energy that characterized every act 
of his life, and was on the whole successful, and was satisfac- 
tory to the great body of his countrymen. 

The first indication of the determined will with which the 
new President meant to conduct his administration, was given 
in his first annual message to Congress in 1829, in which he 
declared his opposition to a renewal of the Charter of the 



ANDREW JACKSON. 485 

Bank of the United States, which was about to expire. The 
bank was the most powerful institution in the Union, and to 
oppose it so decidedly indicated no little moral courage on the 
part of the President. Undismayed by this declaration, the 
stockholders applied to the Twenty-Second Congress at its 
first session, which began in December, 183 1, for a renewal of 
their charter, and in the spring of 1832, a bill renewing this 
charter was passed by both Houses of Congress. The Presi- 
dent was opposed to the bank on constitutional grounds. He 
held that Congress had no power to charter such an institution, 
and regarded its existence as detrimental to the best interests 
of the country. He therefort returned the bill to Congress 
with his objections. As the friends of the bill could not com- 
mand the two-thirds vote necessary to pass it over the Presi- 
dent's veto, it failed to become a law. The Bank was there- 
fore obliged to suspend operations at the expiration of its 
charter in 1836. The President's course arrayed a powerful 
opposition against him. 

During the last session of the Twenty-first Congress, Presi- 
dent Jackson learned that Mr. Calhoun, the Vice-President, 
while Secretary of War under Mr. Monroe, had endeavored 
to prevent the President from sustaining him in his invasion 
of Florida in 181 8. General Jackson deeply resented this, 
and a marked coldness sprang up between the Vice-President 
and himself Soon after this Mr. Calhoun resigned the Vice- 
Presidency, and was elected a Senator from South Carolina in 

1831. 

In 1832 the Asiatic cholera scourged the country; and in 
the same year occurred the Black Hawk War, which was 
brought to a speedy and successful close by General Atkinson. 
In the fall of 1832 occurred the Presidential election. Gen- 
eral Jackson was the candidate of the Democratic party for 
reelection, and was chosen by a large majority over Henry 
Clay, the candidate of the Whig party. The contest was ex- 
ceedingly bitter, for the President's opposition to the Bank had 
made him many enemies. 

Another question had arisen to increase the opposition to 
the President. During the year 1832 the Tariff was revised by 
Congress, and that body, instead of diminishing the duties, 



486 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

increased many of them. The Southern States were in favor 
of free trade, and resented the Protective Tariff as a great 
wrong done to them. They were willing to submit to a Tariff 
for revenue, but were utterly opposed to the one adopted. 
The States of Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina were the 
most energetic in their opposition to the Tariff, but upon its 
passage the first two submitted to it, hoping to enforce their 
views by Constitutional means at some future time. 

The State of South Carolina determined to resist the Tariff, 
as it held that any State, in the exercise of its sovereign power, 
had the right to declare null and void, within its own limits, 
any act of Congress which it» deemed unconstitutional. A 
convention of the people of the State was held, which adopted 
a measure known as the " Nullification Ordinance." This ordi- 
nance declared that the Tariff Act of 1832, being based upon 
the principle of protection, and not upon the principle of rais- 
ing a revenue, was unconstitutional, and was therefore null and 
void. Provision was made by another clause for testing the 
constitutionality of the Act before the courts of the State. 
The convention forbade the collection of the duties imposed by 
the Tariff within the limits of the State ; and, in the event of an 
effort of the General Government to enforce the Tariff, the State 
of South Carolina was declared no longer a member of the 
Union. The ordinance was to take effect on the 12th of Feb- 
ruary, 1833, unless in the meantime the General Government 
should abandon its policy of protection, and return to a Tariff 
for revenue only. 

Matters were at this stage when the presidential election of 
1832 occurred. The country at large was utterly opposed to 
the course of South Carolina, and denied the right of that 
State to nullify a law of Congress, or to withdraw from the 
Union on such a pretext. Intense excitement prevailed 
throughout the country, and the course of the President was 
watched with the gravest anxiety. He was known to be 
opposed to the protective policy; but it was generally believed 
that he was firm in his intention to enforce the laws, however 
he might disapprove of them. This conviction did much to 
swell the majority by which he was chosen for a second term. 

President Jackson had determined upon his course. He 



ANDREW JACKSON. 48/ 

meant to enforce the laws, and to put down the resistance in 
South CaroHna. He was anxious at the same time to remove 
the cause of the trouble, and at the meeting of Congress, in 
December, 1832, recommended, in his annual message, a reduc- 
tion of the Tariff On the loth of December the President 
issued his famous proclamation against nullification. It was 
moderate in language, but firm and decided in tone. He de- 
clared that the course of South Carolina was unlawful and 
wrong, and that he would exert the power entrusted to him to 
compel obedience to the constitution and laws of the United 
States. He appealed to the people of South Carolina not to 
persist in the enforcement of their ordinance, as such a course 
on their part must inevitably bring them in collision with the 
forces of the Federal Government ; and told them plainly that 
any citizen of any of the States who should take up arms 
against the General Government in such a conflict would be 
guilty of treason against the United States. 

The leaders of the South Carolina movement were Robert 
Y. Hayne, the Governor of the State, and John C. Calhoun, 
then a Senator of the United States. Governor Hayne replied 
to the President with a counter proclamation, in which he 
warned the people of the State against "the dangerous and 
pernicious doctrines" of the President's proclamation, and 
called upon them to disregard "those vain menaces" of military 
force, and "to be fully prepared to sustain the dignity and de- 
fend the liberties of the State, if need be, with their lives and 
fortunes." The State prepared to maintain its position by force. 
Troops were organized, and arms and military stores were col- 
lected. 

The President, on his part, took measures promptly to en- 
force the law, and was sustained in his course by the sentiment 
of the better part of the country. He ordered a large body 
of troops to assemble at Charleston, under General Scott, and 
a ship of war was sent to that port to assist the Federal officers 
in collecting the duties on imports. Civil war seemed for a 
time inevitable. The President was firmly resolved to compel 
the submission of South Carolina, and to cause the arrest of 
Mr. Calhoun and the other leading nullifiers, and bring them 
to trial for treason. The issue of such a conflict could not be 



488 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

doubtful. Fortunately, through the intervention of the State 
of Virginia and the efforts of Henry Clay, a peaceful settle- 
ment was effected. South Carolina receded from its hostile 
attitude to the Union, and the Tariff was modified. The firm- 
ness of the President was generally approved by his country- 
men, and won him great credit. 

On the 4th of March, 1833, General Jackson entered upon 
his second term of ofifice. The troubles which had disquieted 
the country had been satisfactorily settled, and the President 
took advantage of the peaceful condition of affairs to visit New 
York and the New England States. He was everywhere re- 
ceived with such enthusiasm that his journey was a continuous 
ovation. 

Returning to the Capital the President took a step which 
plunged the country into great excitement once more. The 
Charter of the Bank of the United States made that institution 
the legal depository of the funds of the United States. As 
the Bank was now approaching the end of its career, the 
President believed that the public funds were not safe in its 
keeping. The Secretary of the Treasury, under the sanction 
of Congress, alone had power to remove them. In his annual 
message to Congress in December, 1832 the President had 
recommended the removal of the public funds from the custody 
of the Bank, and the sale of the stock of the Bank belonging 
to the United States. Congress, by a decided vote, refused to 
authorize the measure, and the President, after his return from 
his New England tour, resolved to assume the responsibility. 
He accordingly ordered William J. Duane, the Secretary of the 
Treasury, to withdraw the funds, then amounting to nearly 
;^io,ooo,000; but the Secretary refused to obey the order. He 
was at once removed from his position by President Jackson, 
who appointed Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, his successor. 
Mr. Taney issued an order to the collectors of the revenue, 
forbidding them to deposit the public moneys paid them in the 
Bank of the United States. As for the funds already in the 
possession of the Bank, they were withdrawn as they were 
needed to pay the current expenses of the Government, the 
whole amount being withdrawn in about nine months. 

The effect of the removal of the funds was a sudden and 



ANDREW JACKSON. 489 

universal prostration of the business of the country, " because 
its intimate connection with the National Bank rendered any 
paralysis of the operations of that system fatal to commercial 
activity. * * The fact that the connection of the Bank with 
the business of the countr}' was so vital, confirmed the Presi- 
dent in his opinion of the danger of such an enormous moneyed 
institution." 

Intense excitement prevailed throughout the country. The 
President was waited upon by numerous committees of mer- 
chants, manufacturers and mechanics, who urged him to take 
some measures to afford them relief He was firm, and to all 
of them answered, in effect, that "the Government could give 
no relief, and provide no remedy; that the banks were the 
occasions of all the evils which existed, and that those who 
suffered by their great enterprise had none to blame but them- 
selves; that those who traded on borrowed capital ought to 
break." The State banks received the Government funds on 
deposit and loaned freely. Confidence gradually returned, and 
the country settled down upon a prosperous basis. 

The President's course produced open war between the 
Senate and himself He was opposed by Clay, Calhoun, and 
Webster, and was defended by Benton and Forsyth. In spite 
of the efforts of his friends, the Senate adopted a resolution 
severely censuring his course as unconstitutional. The Presi- 
dent submitted an able protest against this resolution of censure. 
He was sustained in his acts by the House of Representatives, 
and by the aid of that body was able to defeat the Bank on 
every point. The Senate subsequently recognized the propriety 
of the President's action, and of its own motion expunged its 
resolution of censure from its journal. 

In 1835 the Seminole war, which proved so troublesome to 
the Government, broke out in Florida. It was prosecuted with 
vigor during General Jackson's term of office. 

In the last years of his administration General Jackson 
brought to a close the vexatious disputes with France, Spain, 
Naples, and Denmark, by a series of treaties which pledged 
those countries to make restitution for their spoliation of Amer- 
ican vessels and property during the wars of Napoleon. 

One of the most important acts of President Jackson's 



490 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



administration was the payment of the national debt. He not 
only left the nation free from debt, but handed over to his suc- 
cessor a surplus of forty millions of dollars in the national 
treasury. 

At the close of his second term of office, President Jackson 
issued a farewell address to his countrymen, reviewing the pro- 
gress of the nation, and warning them of the perils that lay in 
their path. Having declined to be a candidate for re-election. 
General Jackson gave his support to Martin Van Buren, of 
New York, who accordingly received the Democratic nomina- 
tion for the Presidency, and was elected. It is related that a 
committee of Mr. Van Buren's friends called upon the Presi- 
dent previous to the assembling of the nominating convention, 
to ascertain his wishes as to the selection of his successor. He 
was asked who was his first choice, and answered promptly, 
" Martin Van Buren." " Who is your second choice, Mr. Presi- 
dent ?" asked one of the committee. " By the Eternal, sir," ex- 
claimed the President quickly, " I never had a second choice in 
my life." 

On the 4th of March, 1837, after witnessing the inauguration 
of his successor, General Jackson withdrew from Washington 
to his home at the Hermitage, near Nashville. The remainder 
of his life was passed in retirement. Late in life he connected 
himself with the Presbyterian Church, and remained an earnest 
and consistent Christian to his death. A gentleman, who 
called on him by appointment early one winter morning, at the 
White House, near the close of his term of office, relates that 
he found him, up and dressed, though it was still dark. Lights 
were burning on his table, on which lay an open Bible which 
he had been reading, and a small portrait of his dead wife. 

"Jackson's face and figure," says Mr. Stansbury, "were so re- 
markable that nothing could be an easier task to an artist than 
to get a likeness of him. His face confirmed every dictinn of 
the physiognomist. It was long and narrow, and prominent 
below. A mouth and chin more expressive of stern decision 
can scarce be imagined ; the nose high and long, and a little 
drooping, indicating the strength of character, with a mixture 
of shrewdness. This quality was also strongly marked in the 
large folds of skin about the eyes, (often called a-ow'sfect ;) his 



ANDREW JACKSON. 49 1 

cheeks were hollow, the eye itself was the eye of an eagle — 
cold, gray, piercing in the highest degree, and when contracted 
by rage, darting like fire ; the brow was fretful, serious, and 
lowering. His figure was tall and commanding, but thin and 
sinewy ; his hair, of iron gray, was stiff and unyielding, very 
abundant, and stood erect upon his head. He looked well 
when standing, still better when on horseback, and his appear- 
ance was much improved by a splendid uniform. When sit- 
ting he usually crossed one knee over the other. His hands 
were long and bony ; towards the close of life he had a little 
stoop in the back, when seated." 

The close of his life was peaceful. He retained possession 
of his faculties until the last, and died at the Hermitage on the 
8th of June, 1845, at the age of seventy-eight. 

Perhaps his best epitaph was spoken by a rough, unlettered 
Tennessean, who, upon being asked what sort of a man Gen- 
eral Jackson was, answered readily: "He was this kind of a 
man — if Andrew Jackson had joined a party of strangers trav- 
eling in the woods, and, half an hour after, they should be 
attacked by Indians, he would instantly take command, and all 
the rest would obey him." 




HENRY CLAY. 

HENRY CLAY was born in that part of Hanover County, 
Virginia, known as "The Slashes," on the I2tli of April, 
1777. His father, the Rev. Charles Clay, was a Baptist 
preacher. At that time the great majority of the people of 
Virginia, and all the better classes, were members of the Epis- 
copal Church, and the Baptists were poor and struggling, just 
beginning to enjoy the precious equality won for them by Jef- 
ferson and his brother Radicals. Consequently they were in 
no condition to do much for their preachers, and were scarcely 
able to give them a bare subsistence. This was the lot of the 
Rev. Charles Clay, who managed, however, to struggle along 
until 1782, when he died, leaving a small and encumbered 
property to his widow and seven children. 

Of these children Henry was the fifth. He was a bright, 
cheerful, intelligent lad, but gave no special indication of supe- 
riority to the children by whom he was surrounded. When 
quite young he was sent to one of. the old field schools of the 
country. The teacher was an Englishman, good-natured, but 
fond of his bottle, and allowed his pupils to do pretty much as 
they pleased. Under him Henry learned to read and write, 
and to cipher as far as Practice. This was the only school he 
ever attended, for his widowed mother was not able to do more 
for him, and as soon as he was old enough he was obliged to 
take his place on the farm to assist in cultivating it. He did 
not like this life of drudgery, however, and in 1791, when he was 
fourteen years old, his mother obtained for him a situation in a 
drug store in Richmond, where he served as errand boy and 
clerk of all work for a year. 

In i792Mrs. Clay married Mr. Henry Watkins, and removed 
to Kentucky. Previous to their departure, Mr. Watkins ob- 
tained for Henry a place as copying clerk in the office of Mr. 
Peter Tinsley, clerk of the High Court of Chancery, It was 
decided that Henry should remain in this situation. His 

(492) 







HENRY CLAY. 



HENRY CLAY. 493 

mother went to Kentucky with her new husband, and Henry 
never saw her again. He applied himself with diligence to 
the duties of his position. "The young gentlemen then em- 
ployed in the office of the Court long remembered the entrance 
among them of their new comrade. He was fifteen at the 
time, but very tall for his age, very slender, very awkward, and 
far from handsome. His good mother had arrayed him in a 
suit of pepper and salt figginy, an old Virginia fabric of silk 
and cotton. His shirt and shirt-collar were stiffly starched, 
aud his coat tail stood out boldly behind him. The dandy 
law clerks of metropolitan Richmond exchanged glances as 
this gawky figure entered and took his place at a desk to begin 
his work. There was something in his manner which pre- 
vented their indulgence in the jests that usually greet the ar- 
rival of country youth among city blades; and they afterwards 
congratulated one another that they had waited a little before 
beginning to tease him, for they soon found that he had brought 
with him from the country an exceedingly sharp tongue." 

Young Clay attended faithfully to his duties, and soon lost 
his "country manner." His position enabled him to catch 
glimpses of the great men of Virginia, as they often came into 
the Court and the clerk's office, and he determined to emulate 
their example. In order to supply his deficiencies in education, 
he devoted the better part of his leisure time to reading and 
study. While his companions were bent on enjoying them- 
selves, he was preparing himself for the place in life to which 
he had already begun to aspire. He had no low vices. He 
was sound and healthy in body and soul, and was "a clean, 
temperate and studious young man." 

His faithful attention to his business drew upon him the 
favorable regard of Chancellor Wythe, one of the wisest and 
best men America has ever produced. The Chancellor's hand 
had now begun to tremble so that it was with difficulty he 
could write, and he was compelled to seek a copyist in the 
office of the clerk of his Court. He chose Henry Clay for 
this purpose, chiefly because of his remarkably neat and clear 
handwriting, and, perhaps, because he discerned in the young 
man such a character as the good Chancellor loved to mould 
for future greatness. He had already done his work well upon 



496 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

While he devoted himself to his profession, Mr. Clay gave 
considerable attention to politics. In 1798 a Convention was 
summoned to meet the next year for the purpose of remodel- 
ing the Constitution of the State. Henry Clay, in 1798, began, 
in a series of newspaper articles, to urge upon the State the 
wisdom of adopting a plan for the gradual abolition of slavery 
in Kentucky, and subsequently made a number of addresses In 
favor of the same object. He was regarded as the leader of 
the party in favor of this measure; but his efforts were in vain, 
for the proposition was voted down in the Convention by a 
decisive majority. Thirty years later, when opposing the nul- 
lification schemes of Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Clay declared that it 
was among the proudest memories of his life that he had, at 
the very outset of his career, striven to free Kentucky from 
the curse of slavery. 

"Young Clay came to the Kentucky stump just when the 
country was at the crisis of the struggle between the Old and 
the New. But in Kentucky it was not a struggle ; for the 
people there, mostly of Virginian birth, had been personally 
benefited by Jefferson's equalizing measures, and were in the 
fullest sympathy with his political doctrines. When, therefore, 
this brilliant and commanding youth, with that magnificent 
voice of his, and large gesticulation, mounted the wagon that 
usually served as platform in the open-air meetings of Ken- 
tucky, and gave forth, in fervid oratory, the Republican prin- 
ciples he had imbibed in Richmond, he won that immediate 
and intense popularity which an orator always wins who gives 
powerful expression to the sentiments of his hearers. * * * 
At thirty he was, to use the language of the stump, 'Ken- 
tucky's favorite son,' and incomparably the finest orator in the 
Western countiy. Kentucky had tried him, and found him per- 
fectly to her mind. He was an easy, comfortable man to asso- 
ciate with, wholly in the Jeffersonian taste. His wit was not of 
the highest quality, but he had a plenty of it ; and if he said a 
good thing, he said it in such a way as to give it ten times its 
natural force. He chewed tobacco and took snuff — practices 
which lowered the tone of his health all his life. In familiar 
conversation he used language of the most Western description ; 
and he had a singularly careless, graceful way with him, that 



HENRY CLAY. 49; 

was in strong contrast with the vigor and dignity of his public 
efforts. He was an honest and brave young man, altogethei 
above lying, hypocrisy, and meanness — full of the idea of Re- 
publican America and her great destiny. The splendor of hi? 
talents concealed his defects and glorified his foibles ; and Ken 
tucky rejoiced in him, loved him, trusted him."* 

In 1803 Mr. Clay was elected to the Legislature of Kentucky. 
While a member of this body he was applied to by Aaron Burr 
to defend him against the prosecution which Colonel Daviess 
had instituted against him by order of President Jefferson. 
Though an ardent supporter of Jefferson, Clay consented to do 
so upon Burr's solemn assertions as a man of honor that he 
was guiltless of the charges against him. Burr was acquitted, 
but Clay would accept no fee. In 1806, after his election to 
the Senate, Mr. Jefferson sent for Clay and showed him the 
cipher letters of Burr which convinced him that Burr was cer- 
tainly a liar and might be a traitor. On his return from Ghent, 
in 181 5, Mr. Clay met Burr on the street in New York, but, 
disgusted with his duplicity, turned his back upon him. 

In 1806, Mr. Clay was elected to the Senate of the United 
States to fill the unexpired term of one of the Kentucky Sena- 
tors. He was warmly welcomed to the Capital by Mr. Jeffer- 
son, who cherished a cordial regard for him. In the Senate 
Mr. Clay gave the first indications of his adhesion to the sys- 
tem of protecting and assisting American interests by the 
power of the General Government, of which he was the cham- 
pion throughout his life. His first speech in Congress was in 
support of the bill to authorize the General Government to 
build a bridge over the Potomac. A little later he introduced 
a bill for the construction of a canal around the falls of the 
Ohio at Louisville; and later still, submitted a resolution di- 
recting the Secretary of the Treasury to report a system of 
canals and roads for the consideration of Congress. 

In 1807, his term in the Senate having expired, he returned 
home and was elected to the lower House of the Kentucky 
Legislature, of which body he was chosen speaker in 1808. 
In this capacity he was mainly instrumental in defeating a prop- 

^Famous Americans of Recent Times. By Jas. Parton, pp. 1 6, 1 7. 
32 



498 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

osition for the repudiation of the Common law and all British 
decisions in the Courts of Kentucky. In the Legislature he 
supported the policy of Mr. Jefferson. The non-intercourse 
policy of the President found him a hearty champion, and he 
proposed that the members of the Legislature should bind 
themselves not to wear anything that was not of American 
manufacture. Mr. Humphrey Marshall, a leading Federalist, 
ignorant of the good use the men of the Revolution had made 
of this policy, denounced Mr. Clay's proposition as the trick 
of a shameless demagogue. Clay at once challenged him, 
and a duel ensued. Two shots were exchanged, and Marshall 
was wounded at the first, and Clay at the second fire. 

In 1809 Mr. Clay was again elected to the Senate of the 
United States, this time to fill an unexpired term of two years. 
During this term he was the constant advocate of the non- 
intercourse policy, and urged upon the nation the establish- 
ment of a system of manufactures which should render it inde- 
pendent of foreign countries. He also opposed the re-charter 
of the first Bank of the United States. His speech upon this 
subject was often quoted against him after his change of views 
in 1816. 

In 181 1 Mr. Clay was elected to the House of Representa- 
tives in Congress, from the Lexington District. The troubles 
with Great Britain caused President Madison to summon the 
Twelfth Congress to convene on the 3d of November, 181 1, a 
month earlier than usual. Mr. Clay took his seat in the House, 
and upon its organization was chosen Speaker by a decisive 
majority. 

Mr. Clay had watched the course of the quarrel between the 
United States and Great Britain with the deepest interest, and 
had come to the conclusion that war was inevitable, and that 
the honor and interests of his country demanded it. He was 
resolved that the insolence and injustice of Great Britain should 
not go unpunished, and in arranging the Committees of the 
House constituted them with especial reference to a vigorous 
support of the President in the event of war. He was but 
thirty-four years old, but he was already one of the most influ- 
ential men in America. His voice was for war ; he used the 
whole power of the Speaker to bring about that end ; and 



HENRY CLAY. 



499 



urged the President to a vigorous and determined course to- 
wards England. When the President wavered, Clay infused 
fresh courage into him, and when the House hesitated, he de- 
scended from the speaker's chair to the floor, and reassured it 
with his matchless eloquence. On the ist of April President 
Madison, who had been visited by a Committee of the war 
party in Congress, and urged to an early declaration of war, 
submitted a message to Congress proposing an embargo for 
sixty days. The proposition was bitterly denounced by John 
Randolph, of Virginia, and Josiah Quincy, of Massachusetts, 
but the effect of their opposition was neutralized by the unan- 
swerable reply of Clay. War was declared at length, and 
mainly through the influence of Henry Clay. This much being 
gained. Clay gave a powerful support to the President, who 
thought so highly of him that, when the first year was about 
to close in disaster, he proposed to appoint Clay Commander- 
in-chief of the army. Gallatin changed the President's inten- 
tion by the well-timed question, "What shall we do without 
him in the House of Representatives ?" 

Upon the receipt of the offer of Great Britain to conduct ne- 
gotiations directly with the United States, Mr. Clay and Jona- 
than Russell were added by President Madison to the commis- 
sion already in Europe, and at once sailed upon their mission. 

The negotiations for peace were conducted at Ghent, in Bel- 
gium. Mr. Clay proved himself a match for the British Com- 
missioners, and added greatly to his reputation by his part in 
the conferences. He refused to concede to England the free 
navigation of the Mississippi, and thus removed a dangerous 
commercial rival from the path of the infant inland trade of the 
Union. 

After the treaty was signed, Mr. Clay made a visit to Paris, 
where he spent some weeks. He left for London in March, 
1815, just before the return of Napoleon from Elba. Though 
he abhorred his principles, Mr. Clay could never rid himself 
of a lurking regard for the great Emperor. Upon reaching 
London, Mr. Clay was received with distinguished honor by ' 
the leading men of Great Britain, especially by the Prime Min- 
ister, Lord Castlereagh, for whom the :\merican statesman 
cherished a warm admiration. Dining one day with the 



498 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

osition for the repudiation of the Common law and all British 
decisions in the Courts of Kentucky. In the Legislature he 
supported the policy of Mr. Jefferson. The non-intercourse 
policy of the President found him a hearty champion, and he 
proposed that the members of the Legislature should bind 
themselves not to wear anything that was not of American 
manufacture. Mr. Humphrey Marshall, a leading Federalist, 
ignorant of the good use the men of the Revolution had made 
of this policy, denounced Mr. Clay's proposition as the trick 
of a shameless demagogue. Clay at once challenged him, 
and a duel ensued. Two shots were exchanged, and Marshall 
was wounded at the first, and Clay at the second fire. 

In 1809 Mr. Clay was again elected to the Senate of the 
United States, this time to fill an unexpired term of two years. 
During this term he was the constant advocate of the non- 
intercourse policy, and urged upon the nation the establish- 
ment of a system of manufactures which should render it inde- 
pendent of foreign countries. He also opposed the re-charter 
of the first Bank of the United States. His speech upon this 
subject was often quoted against him after his change of views 
in 1 8 16. 

In 1811 Mr. Clay was elected to the House of Representa- 
tives in Congress, from the Lexington District. The troubles 
with Great Britain caused President Madison to summon the 
Twelfth Congress to convene on the 3d of November, 18 11, a 
month earlier than usual. Mr. Clay took his seat in the House, 
and upon its organization was chosen Speaker by a decisive 
majority. 

Mr. Clay had watched the course of the quarrel between the 
United States and Great Britain with the deepest interest, and 
had come to the conclusion that war was inevitable, and that 
the honor and interests of his country demanded it. He was 
resolved that the insolence and injustice of Great Britain should 
not go unpunished, and in arranging the Committees of the 
House constituted them with especial reference to a vigorous 
support of the President in the event of war. He was but 
thirty-four years old, but he was already one of the most influ- 
ential men in America. His voice was for war; he used the 
whole power of the Speaker to bring about that end ; and 



HENRY CLAY, 



499 



urged the President to a vigorous and determined course to- 
wards England. When the President wavered, Clay infused 
fresh courage into him, and when the House hesitated, he de- 
scended from the speaker's chair to the floor, and reassured it 
with his matchless eloquence. On the ist of April President 
Madison, who had been visited by a Committee of the war 
party in Congress, and urged to an early declaration of war, 
submitted a message to Congress proposing an embargo for 
sixty days. The proposition was bitterly denounced by John 
Randolph, of Virginia, and Josiah Quincy, of Massachusetts, 
but the effect of their opposition was neutralized by the unan- 
swerable reply of Clay. War was declared at length, and 
mainly through the influence of Henry Clay. This much being 
gained. Clay gave a powerful support to the President, who 
thought so highly of him that, when the first year was about 
to close in disaster, he proposed to appoint Clay Commander- 
in-chief of the army. Gallatin changed the President's inten- 
tion by the well-timed question, "What shall we do without 
him in the House of Representatives ?" 

Upon the receipt of the offer of Great Britain to conduct ne- 
gotiations directly with the United States, Mr. Clay and Jona- 
than Russell were added by President Madison to the commis- 
sion already in Europe, and at once sailed upon their mission. 

The negotiations for peace were conducted at Ghent, in Bel- 
gium. Mr. Clay proved himself a match for the British Com- 
missioners, and added greatly to his reputation by his part in 
the conferences. He refused to concede to England the free 
navigation of the Mississippi, and thus removed a dangerous 
commercial rival from the path of the infant inland trade of the 
Union. 

After the treaty was signed, Mr. Clay made a visit to Paris, 
where he spent some weeks. He left for London in March, 
1815, just before the return of Napoleon from Elba. Though 
he abhorred his principles, Mr. Clay could never rid himself 
of a lurking regard for the great Emperor. Upon reaching 
London, Mr. Clay was received with distinguished honor by 
the leading men of Great Britain, especially by the Prime Min- 
ister, Lord Castlereagh, for whom the .\merican statesman 
cherished a warm admiration. Dining one day with the 



500 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Premier, the conversation turned upon the second abdication 
and flight of Napoleon, who was then supposed to have sailed 
for America. "Will he not make you a great deal of trouble 
should he reach your country?" asked Lord Liverpool. "Not 
the least, my Lord," promptly responded Mr. Clay. "We 
shall be very glad to receive him, shall treat him with all hos- 
pitality, and very soon make him a good Democrat." 

Mr. Clay reached New York, on his return home, in Sep- 
tember, 1815, and was enthusiastically welcomed. He has- 
tened to his home, and on the 7th of October, was entertained 
at a public dinner by the people of Lexington. He had been 
elected to Congress during his absence; but as some doubts 
were entertained of the validity of an election while the can- 
didate was out of the country, he resigned, and was at once 
reelected. On the meeting of Congress he was chosen Speaker 
of the House on the 14th of December, 1815. 

The country had suffered severely from the war, and it was 
now called upon to build again its destroyed prosperity. Mr. 
Clay was of the opinion that Congress should give such pro- 
tection to American industry as would save it from the compe- 
tition of the cheaper markets of Europe, and enable it to place 
itself on a firm basis. The war had taught him many lessons, 
and its financial experiences had entirely reversed his views 
upon the subject of a National Bank. He now avowed him- 
self in favor of such an institution, and supported the Bank 
of 1 8 16. Though his enemies charged him with interested 
motives in this change, there can be no question that he was 
sincere and disinterested in his convictions and action. He 
held these views throughout his life. He gave his cordial 
support to the Protective Tariff of 18 16, though the chief 
credit of defending that measure belongs to John C. Calhoun. 

At the close of the Fourteenth Congress, a measure was 
adopted by that body, which, in spite of Mr. Clay's popularity 
in Kentucky, came near costing him his seat in the House. 
Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, introduced a bill 
♦ changing the compensation of members of Congress from $8 
per day during the session to $1,500 per annum. The bill was 
passed and Mr. Clay gave it his support. The country, ex- 
hausted by the losses of the war, deeply resented the action of 



HENKV CLAY. 5OI 

Congress as an effort to better its own condition at the expense 
of the people, and would listen to no argument in favor of the 
measure. In Kentucky the opposition was very great. Mr. Clay, 
at the next election, found himself opposed by Mr. John Pope, 
an able and popular man. His own popularity had been greatly 
injured by his support of the Compensation Bill, and though 
he made extraordinary efforts he managed to secure his election 
only by a m_ajority of six hundred votes. 

In the heat of this canvass Mr. Clay met an old hunter, who 
had always been one of his warmest supporters. The old man 
told him with sorrow that he utterly disapproved of his course 
in supporting the Bill, and should withdraw his support, and do 
all he could to elect Mr. Pope. Mr. Clay looked at him for a 
moment, and then laying his hand on his shoulder, said with 
that winning grace which few men could resist : " My friend, 
have you a good rifle ?" " Yes," answered the hunter in sur- 
prise. "One that you have tried, and know you can rely 
upon ?" " Yes." " Did it ever flash ?" " Only once." "What 
then; did you throw it away?" " No," said the hunter, " I 
picked the flint, and tried it again." " Did I ever flash but on 
the Compensation Bill ?" "No." "Will you throw me away?" 
" No ! no !" exclaimed the old man, seizing his hand with en- 
thusiasm. " I'll try you again." 

At the next session, the House made haste to repeal the Com- 
pensation Bill. 

In recognition of his services during the war of 181 2, Mr. 
Madison tendered to Mr. Clay the Mission to Russia and a 
place in his Cabinet, but each offer was declined. 

In 1 8 17 Mr. Monroe was inaugurated President. During 
the eight years of his administration, with the exception of an 
interval of two years which he spent in retirement, endeavor- 
ing to restore his fortune, which had become somewhat im- 
paired by his devotion to public affairs, Mr. Clay was regu- 
larly returned to Congress, and as regularly chosen Speaker of 
the House. In a certain sense he was opposed to the Admin- 
istration, as he was anxious to go farther in his support of the 
policy of internal improvements and a protective tariff than the 
President was willing to venture. He contemplated the build- 
ing up of a vast system of American manufactures, which 



502 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

should render this country a formidable rival to the LAiropean 
nations, and draw skilled workmen from abroad. This he knew 
could be done only by imposing upon articles of foreign manu- 
facture duties which should render competition with American 
products impossible. Mr. Monroe was not prepared to go so 
far. Although Speaker of the House, Clay was still the leader 
of that body, for the House was very fond of hearing him 
speak, and was constantly affording him opportunities of doing 
so by going into the Committee of the Whole. 

"At Washington, during the thirteen years of his Speakership, 
he led the gay life of a popular hero and drawing-room favor- 
ite ; and his position was supposed to compel him to entertain 
much company. As a young lawyer in Kentucky he was 
addicted to playing those games of mere chance which alone at 
that day were styled gambling. He played high and often, as 
was the custom then all over the world. It was his boast, 
even in those wild days, that he never played at home, and 
never had a pack of cards in his house ; but when the lawyers 
and judges were assembled during court sessions, there was 
much high play among them at the tavern after the day's work 
was done. In 1806, when Mr. Clay was elected to the Senate, 
he resolved to gamble no more, that is, to play at hazard and 
'brag' no more; and he kept his resolution. Whist, being a 
game depending partly on skill, was not included in this reso- 
lution ; and whist was thenceforth a very favorite game with 
him, and he greatly excelled in it. It was said of him, as it 
was of Charles James Fox, that, at any moment of a hand, he 
could name all the cards that remained to be played. He dis- 
countenanced high stakes, and we believe he never, after 1806, 
played for more than five dollars ' a corner.' These, we know, 
were the stakes at Ghent, where he played whist for many 
months with the British Commissioners during the negotiations 
for peace in 1815." 

Mr. Clay was an ardent advocate of the recognition of the 
independence of the Spanish Republics of South America. 

In 1820 and 1821 occurred the famous controversy between 
the North and the South on the slavery question, which arose 
out of the application of Missouri for admission into the Union 
as a slaveholding State. The struggle between the sections 



HENRY CLAY. 5O3 

was fierce and exciting, and it seemed for a time that the Union 
would be destroyed by the violence of the contending parties. 
It was a period of extreme peril to the Republic, and there was 
grave reason to fear that our institutions would not survive this 
decisive trial of their strength. Mr. Clay had been absent 
from Congress during the earlier attempts to admit Missouri 
and returned in January, 1821, in the midst of the struggle. 
He at once perceived the danger to the country, and threw 
his whole soul into the effort to effect a settlement. As neither 
patty would withdraw from its position, he saw that the con- 
troversy could be settled only by a compromise. Senator 
Thomas, of Illinois, had proposed in the Senate to consent to 
the admission of Missouri with her slaveholding constitution 
on condition that slavery should be excluded from all the terri- 
tory of the Union north of the line of 36 degrees 30 minutes 
north latitude. Mr. Clay determined to take this proposition 
as the basis of his Compromise. It was almost impossible to 
accomplish anything, for the question had been debated in Con- 
gress with such fierceness that the members were well nigh 
incapable of hearing it mentioned with calmness. 

Mr. Clay did not despair, however, and for six weeks worked 
night and day to secure the acceptance of the plan he had 
adopted. He procured the appointment of a joint Committee 
of the two Houses, and succeeded in inducing the House to 
elect the members selected by himself His strong personal 
influence and his patriotic exertions secured a unanimous ac- 
ceptance of his plan by the Committee, and he carried it 
through Congress by a decisive majority. The Missouri Com- 
promise gained for the Union a respite of thirty years, and put 
an end for the time to the dangers which threatened it. For 
this great achievement the country was indebted to Henry 
Clay. As for Mr. Clay himself, he was so worn out by his 
efforts that he declared that if the struggle in Congress had 
been protracted for two weeks longer, it would have killed 
him. 

In the fall of 1821, Mr. Clay declined a reelection to Con- 
gress and devoted the next two years to a successful effort to 
repair his shattered fortunes. In 1823 he returned to the 
House, and was chosen its speaker by an overwhelming ma- 



504 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

jority. In this Congress he seconded the efforts of Webster 
and others to procure the recognition of the independence of 
Greece, and delivered a thrilling appeal in behalf of that coun- 
try. In 1824, upon the occasion of the visit of Lafayette to 
Washington City, Mr. Clay, as Speaker, welcomed him in the 
name of the House of Representatives in a speech of matchless 
beauty. 

Mr. Clay's great services in securing the Missouri Compro- 
mise caused him to be nominated by a large party as a candi- 
date for the Presidency in the campaign of 1824. His opponents 
were Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and William H. 
Crawford. Mr. Clay, in the debate in the House in 18 19, upon 
General Jackson's course in executing the British traders Ar- 
buthnot and Ambrister in 18 18, to which we have referred 
elsewhere, had felt called upon to severely condemn the course 
of the General, while doing full justice to his motives, and 
passing a high eulogium upon his previous services. Jackson 
could never bear opposition, and he never forgave Clay for 
this speech. There never lived a better hater than Andrew 
Jackson, and in his wrath he attributed Clay's opposition to 
him to interested and unworthy motives. At the earnest re- 
quest of his friends, he consented to a nominal reconciliation 
with Mr. Clay, but the hatred he had conceived for him was 
not extinguished. It was only covered over by the mask of 
friendliness. The events of the Presidential contest were to 
cause it to burst forth again with increased fury. 

The popular vote at the elections of 1824 failed to secure the 
choice of either of the candidates, and it became the duty of 
the House of Representatives to choose the President. Mr. 
Clay had received ly electoral votes, the lowest number on the 
list. Had he received eight more, which he had a right to ex- 
pect from New York, he would have been the third candidate, 
and his name would have gone before the House. In such a 
case his election would have been sure, for the House was de- 
voted to him, and would have been only too glad to seat him 
in the Presidential chair. By the terms of the Constitution but 
three names — those possessing the highest number of electoral 
votes — can be presented to the House. Mr. Clay being the 
fourth in the number of votes received, was therefore dropped 
from the contest. 



HENRY CLAY. 505 

It now became necessary for Mr. Clay to decide which of his 
rivals he would support for the Presidency, and it was well 
known that his decision would settle the question, as he would 
be sure to carry the House with him. He was convinced that 
Mr. Adams was the best qualified for the Presidency, and gave 
him his support and secured his election. Mr. Clay was sin- 
cere in his conviction, and was influenced entirely by public 
considerations in his act, but he aroused the furious wrath of 
General Jackson. He was made suddenly aware of this by the 
attacks of Jackson and his friends, who denounced him as hav- 
ing plotted with Adams to defeat the wishes of the people, and 
with having sold his influence to Adams for the place of Secre- 
tary of State. Mr. Adams had determined to offer Clay the 
Secretaryship of State, and did so imrriediately upon his inaugu- 
ration. Clay, indignant at the slanders of the Jackson party, 
accepted the position. He regarded the calumny which had 
anticipated his acceptance of the office as a defiance. He knew 
he had acted conscientiously and from the purest motives, and 
with characteristic boldness accepted the position tendered him 
by the President. It required an immense amount of moral 
courage to do this, for his assailants at once triumphantly 
pointed to his presence in Mr. Adams' Cabinet as proof of their 
charges. They were in a measure successful, and a blow was 
dealt at the popularity of Mr. Clay from which he never en- 
tirely recovered. Seventeen years later he said to his fellow 
citizens at Lexington (in September 1842) : " My error in ac- 
cepting the office arose out of my underrating the power of de- 
traction and the force of ignorance, and abiding with too sure 
a confidence in the conscious integrity and uprightness of my 
own motives." 

The violence with which the charges of " bargain and cor- 
ruption" were hurled at him, astonished and wounded him 
deeply. He had not believed that his countrymen would do 
him such injustice. While smarting under his wrongs, he 
issued a card daring his defamers to come forward and give 
him an opportunity to refute their charges, and declared his 
readiness to meet them "on the field of honor." Somewhat 
later he addressed a " letter" to his constituents, in which he 
said, " I ought not to have put in it (the card) the last para- 



506 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

graph; because, though it does not necessarily imply the re- 
sort to a personal combat, it admits of that construction ; nor 
will I conceal that such possible issue was within my contem- 
plation. I owe it to the community to say, that, whatever I 
may heretofore have done, or, by inevitable circumstance may 
be forced to do, no man in it holds in deeper abhorrence than 
I do that pernicious practice. Condemned as it must be by 
the judgment and philosophy, to say nothing of the religion, 
of every thinking man, it is an affair of feeling, about which 
we cannot, though we should, reason. Its true corrective will 
be found when all shall unite, as all ought to unite, in its un- 
qualified proscription." 

Not long after this letter was written, John Randolph, of 
Virginia, denounced Mr. Clay's support of Mr. Adams as "the 
coalition of Puritan with blackleg." Clay at once demanded 
an explanation, which was refused. He then challenged Ran- 
dolph, who accepted the defiance. The meeting took place on 
the 8th of April, 1826, Randolph having previously declared 
to his second that he would receive Clay's shot, but would not 
fire at him. Two shots were exchanged, but to the great joy 
of the principals, were without effect. The seconds then inter- 
fered, and put a stop to the affair. Randolph and Clay re- 
mained unreconciled for seven years. At last the former, then 
on the verge of the grave, was carried into the Senate to hear 
his rival speak once more. Clay was speaking on the Tariff 
question at the time, and when he had concluded, crossed over 
to the dying Virginian and greeted him cordially. 

As Secretary of State, Mr. Clay greatly added to his repu- 
tation as a statesman. He pursued a thoroughly disinterested 
policy, and in his selection of newspapers for the publication 
of the laws, would not consider their political character. He 
gave an efficient support to the resolve of President Adams 
not to remove any man from office because of his political 
opinions. He negotiated a number of treaties with foreign 
powers, and endeavored to secure the acceptance of the doc- 
trines that paper blockades are not to be regarded, and that 
private property at sea, in time of war, shall be safe from 
seizure. He won the cordial regard of the Diplomatic Corps 
at Washington by his frank and hospitable treatment of its 
members. 



HENRY CLAY. 507 

In 1828 Mr. Adams was a candidate for reelection, and was 
defeated by General Jackson. The next March, Mr. Clay 
withdrew from office, and returned to Kentucky. His journey 
home was a continuous ovation. For the next two years he 
remained in retirement, devoting himself to the care of his 
farm and the raising of blooded animals. He enjoyed this 
mode of life very greatly, and his health improved rapidly. 
Occasionally he made a business journey to some distant city, 
and eveiywhere was received with an enthusiasm which showed 
him that the people still loved and trusted him. 

" The President, meanwhile," says Mr. Parton, " was paying 
such homage to the farmer of Ashland as no President of the 
United States had ever paid to a private individual. General 
Jackson's principal object — the object nearest to his heart — 
appears to have been to wound and injure Henry Clay. His 
appointments * * seem to have been chiefly inspired by re- 
sentment against him. Ingham, of Pennsylvania, who had 
taken the lead in that State in giving currency to the ' bargain' 
calumny, was appointed Secretary of the Treasury. Eaton, 
who had aided in the original concoction of that foul slander, 
was appointed Secretary of War. Branch, who received the 
appointment of Secretary of the Navy, was one of the few 
Senators who had voted and spoken against the confirmation 
of Henry Clay to the office of Secretary of State in 1825 ; 
and Berrien, Attorney General, was another. Barry, appointed 
Post Master General, was the Kentuckian who had done most 
to inflict upon Mr. Clay the mortification of seeing his own 
Kentucky siding against him. John Randolph, Clay's recent 
antagonist in a duel, and the most unfit man in the world for 
a diplomatic mission, was sent Minister to Russia. Pope, an 
old Kentucky Federalist, Clay's opponent and competitor for 
half a life-time, received the appointment of Governor of the 
Territory of Arkansas. General Harrison, who had generously 
defended Clay against the charge of bargain and corruption, 
was recalled from a foreign mission on the fourth day after 
General Jackson's accession to power, though he had scarcely 
reached the country to which he was accredited. In the place 
of General Harrison was sent a Kentuckian peculiarly obnox- 
ious to Mr. Clay. In Kentucky itself there was a clean sweep 



508 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHV, 

from office of Mr. Clay's friends ; not one man of them was 
left. His brother-in-law, James Brown, was instantly recalled 
from a diplomatic post in Europe. Kendall, the chief of the 
Kitchen Cabinet, had once been tutor to Mr. Clay's children, 
and had won the favor of Jackson by lending a dextrous hand 
in carrying Kentucky against his benefactor. Francis Blair, 
editor of the Globe, had also been the particular friend and 
correspondent of Mr. Clay, but had turned against him. From 
the Departments in Washington, all of Mr. Clay's known 
friends were immediately removed, except a iew who had made 
themselves indispensable, and a few others whom Mr. Van 
Buren contrived to spare. In nearly every instance, the men 
who succeeded to the best places had made themselves con- 
spicuous by their vituperation of Mr. Clay. He was strictly 
correct when he said, ' Every movement of the President is 
dictated by personal hostility toward me.' 

" It was not only the appointments and removals that were 
aimed at Mr. Clay. The sudden expulsion of gray hairs from 
the offices they had honored, the precipitation of hundreds of 
families into poverty — this did not satisfy the President's ven- 
geance. He assailed Henry Clay in his first Message. In 
recommending a change in the mode of electing the President, 
he said that, when the election devolves upon the House of 
Representatives, circumstances may give the power of deciding 
the election to one man. 'May he not be tempted,' added the 
President, ' to name his reward ?' He vetoed appropriations 
for the Cumberland Road, because the name and honor of 
Henry Clay were peculiarly identified with that work. He de- 
stroyed the Bank of the United States, because he believed its 
power ^nd influence were to be used in favor of Mr. Clay's 
elevation to the Presidency. He took care, in his Message 
vetoing the recharter of the Bank, to employ some of the argu- 
ments which Mr. Clay had used in opposing the recharter of 
the United States Bank in 1811. Miserably sick and infirm as 
he was, he consented to stand for reelection, because there was 
no other candidate strong enough to defeat Henry Clay ; and 
he employed all his art, and the whole power of the administra- 
tion during his second term, to smooth Mr. Van Buren's path 
to the Presidency, to the exclusion of Henry Clay."^ 

'^Famous Americans of Recent Times. By Jas, Parton, pp. 41, 42. 



HENRY CLAY. 5O9 

The course of President Jackson made it impossible for Mr. 
Clay to remain in his retirement, and he consented to become a 
candidate for the Senate of the United States. He was elected 
by a handsome majority, and in December, 1831, took his seat 
in the Senate after an absence from it of twenty years. His 
journey from Ashland to Washington was a triumphal pro- 
gress, and he was greeted all along the route by enthusiastic 
multitudes. In the Senate he was the recognized leader of the 
Whig Party, as the opposition to the Administration had come 
to be called. Congress was strongly Jacksonian, and Mr. Clay 
found himself in the minority. He supported the bill for the 
re-charter of the Bank of the United States, and carried it 
through by a handsome majority. It was vetoed by the Presi- 
dent, and Mr. Clay found that he could not command the ne- 
cessary two-thirds vote to pass it over the President's veto. 
He had supposed the people of the Union would follow iiim 
with enthusiasm, but he found that they could not be made 
enthusiastic in behalf of a moneyed corporation. 

In 1832 it became necessary to revise the Tariff. The coun- 
try was very prosperous, and the National Debt was within a 
year or two of being paid. To keep the Tariff at its existing 
rate would be, in the course of a few years,* to burden the Gov- 
ernment with a considerable surplus in the Treasury. It was 
argued that it was a proper time to decrease the rate of duties ; 
but Mr. Clay maintained that no duty should be lessened which 
protected an American interest. He was willing to see the 
others diminished. His views prevailed, and the Tariff of 
1832 was adopted by Congress. 

The Tariff gave great offence to the Southern States, and 
South Carolina undertook to nullify it, as we have related in 
our account of General Jackson. For a while it seemed that 
a conflict between the State and the General Government was 
inevitable. Henry Clay once more gave himself to the effort 
to save the country. He came forward with a compromise in 
the Senate, which, he hoped, would save the dignity of the 
Government and put an end to the danger. His compromise 
involved the surrender of his protective system, for which he 
had labored so long; but he did not hesitate to make the sacri- 
fice, as the welfare of the country demanded it. He introduced 



510 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

a bill providing for the gradual reduction in ten years of all the 
duties to a revenue standard. This measure, with some modi- 
fications, was adopted by both Houses of Congress, and was 
approved by the President on the 2d of March, 1833, and the 
quarrel was settled. 

" Mr. Clay, on this occasion," says Alexander H. Stephens, 
■' had to break with his old political friends, while he was offer- 
ing up the darling system of his heart upon the altar of his 
country. Whatever else may be said of him, no one can deny 
that Henry Clay was a patriot — every inch of him — a patriot 
of the highest standard. It was said that when he was impor- 
tuned not to take the course he had resolved upon, for the 
reason amongst others that it would lessen his chances for the 
Presidency, his reply was : ' I would rather be right than be 
President' This showed the material he was made of It was 
worthy a Marcellus or a Cato." 

In 1832 Mr. Clay was nominated by the Whigs for the Pres- 
idency, and committed the error of accepting the nomination. 
He had not the remotest chance of success, for General Jack- 
son's popularity had been greatly increased by his veto of the 
Bank bill, and the slave-holding States, with the exception of 
Kentucky, Marylancf and Delaware, were unanimous in their 
support of him. As President he wielded a patronage unpre- 
cedented in our history, and every species of power in the 
hands of the Administration was exerted to secure his reelection. 
Mr. Clay was overwhelmingly defeated. 

The removal of the Public Funds from the Bank of the 
United States by the President, was warmly opposed by Mr. Clay. 
On the 26th of December, 1833, he introduced into the Senate the 
resolutions censuring the course of the President, and carried 
them through that body by a vote of 28 yeas to 18 nays. 
Three years later, when Colonel Benton moved to expunge the 
resolutions, Mr. Clay opposed the motion with more than his 
usual warmth. 

The system adopted by the President of depositing the funds 
in the State banks was also opposed by Mr. Clay. " He argued 
the unsoundness of the system," says Horace Greeley, " the 
flimsiness of the securities and safe-guards relied on by the 
Secretary of the Treasury (who had just reported, March 17th, 



HENRY CLAY. 5II 

1836, that all was as it should be), and insisted that a failure of 
the cotton crop, or any occurrence which should create a neces- 
sity for large exportations of specie to Europe, would compel 
a general contraction of loans, and a consequent panic and 
crash, in which the public moneys would disappear or become 
unavailable. To the superficial observer, nothing seemed less 
probable than this anticipation, the whole country being then 
in the high tide of seeming prosperity; yet a little more than a 
year saw his worst apprehensions fully realized." 

In the autumn of 1836 Mr. Clay was chosen President of the 
Colonization Society, in the place of Mr. Madison, who had 
recently died. 

In the campaign of 1836 Mr. Clay refused to allow his name 
to be presented for the Presidency by the Whig party, and 
Mr. Van Buren was elected without difficulty. Had Mr. Clay 
consented to enter the field upon this occasion, it is probable 
that he would have been successful. 

He led the opposition to the Administration of Mr. Van 
Buren, and endeavored, but without success, to prevent the 
adoption of the sub-Treasury scheme. 

In the Whig Convention of 1840 Mr. Clay was passed by, 
and General Harrison received the nomination for the Presi- 
dency. Mr. Clay's friends, believing that he was badly treated, 
threatened to oppose the action of the Convention ; but he 
promptly prevented them from doing so, and induced them to 
side with him in supporting the nomination. 

The death of General Harrison, within a month after his 
inauguration, changed the entire character of the Administra- 
tion. Mr. Clay's influence in Congress was now very great, 
and he secured the repeal of the sub-Treasury Act, and the 
incorporation of a new Bank of the United States. To his sur- 
prise President Tyler vetoed the Bank bill, and Mr. Clay found 
that, in spite of his great influence, he could not command 
votes enough to pass the bill over the veto. The action of 
President Tyler split the Whig party into two fragments. Mr. 
Clay was the recognized leader of the opposition to the Presi- 
dent. He succeeded in 1842 in securing the passage of a new 
Tariff Bill, in which the principles of the Compromise of 1833 
were altogether set aside, and the Protective Policy restored. 



512 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

On the 31st of March, 1842, Mr. Clay resigned his seat in the 
Senate, and returned to his home in Kentucky. In 1844 he 
was again the candidate of the Whig party for the Presidency. 
The leading question of the day was the annexation of Texas. 
Mr. Clay, while in the Senate, had supported the recognition 
of the independence of Texas by the United States, and was 
not now opposed to annexation per se, nor on account of ex- 
tending the area of slavery, which he regarded as a temporary 
institution destined to fall before the increasing civilization of 
the country. He zaas opposed to the annexation of Texas, 
however, under the existing circumstances, as he thought it an 
act of bad faith to Mexico, and calculated to embroil the 
United States in a war with that country. Thus, his views 
suited neither party. His opposition to slavery did not go far 
enough to satisfy the North, and the South resented his oppo- 
sition to the annexation scheme, which was a favorite measure 
with that section. The consequence was that Mr. Clay was 
again defeated, and Mr. Polk, the Democratic candidate was 
elected President. At the last moment before the election Mr. 
Polk declared himself in favor of the protective policy, and by 
so doing carried the States of Pennsylvania and New York. 
Had he withheld this declaration those States would have 
preferred Mr. Clay, and their electoral votes would have 
ensured his success. 

Mr. Clay remained in retirement until 1849, speaking only 
twice during that time, once at New Orleans, in behalf of the 
effort to send relief to the sufferers by the famine in Ireland, 
and once at Lexington in opposition to the war with Mexico. 
He was much opposed to that war, and regarded its outbreak 
with regret. It brought him a sore affliction, for among the 
officers who fell in the arms of victory at Buena Vista was his 
favorite and most promising son, Henry Clay, Jr. " My life 
has been full of afflictions," wrote the father to a friend, "but 
this last is one of the severest of them." 

" Henry Clay's last years were his best ; he ripened to the 
very end. His friends remarked the moderation of his later 
opinions, and his charity for those who had injured him most. 
During the last ten years of his life no one ever heard him 
utter a harsh judgment of an opponent. Domestic afflictions, 



HENRY CLAY. 513 

frequent and severe, had chastened his heart; his six affection- 
ate and happy daughters were dead ; one son was a hopeless 
lunatic in an asylum; another was not what such a father had 
a right to expect." Just after the death of his son Henry, Mr. 
Clay was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Church 
He remained a faithful and earnest member of that commu- 
nion until his death. 

In 1848 the Whig Convention had it in its power to reward 
their great leader with the Presidency ; but the fear that he 
could not be elected, as he had so been often defeated, caused 
his rejection and the selection of General Taylor in his place. 
Mr. Clay keenly felt the wrong done him by his party, but 
cheerfully sustained the action of the Convention. 

In 1849 3- State Convention assembled for the purpose of 
changing the constitution of Kentucky. Mr. Clay took ad- 
vantage of the occasion to address a long letter to the people 
of the State, in which he urged them to make provision for the 
gradual abolition of slavery in Kentucky. The proposition was 
rejected by the Convention. 

The effort to organize the territory won from Mexico brought 
on a fierce revival of the slavery question. The struggle was 
much more threatening than it had been during the Missouri 
Compromise contest, and the danger to the Union was much 
greater. Though in feeble health, Mr. Clay, who was thor- 
oughly alarmed for his country, consented to be returned to 
the Senate of the United States, and in 1849 was chosen for the 
full term of six years from March 4, 1 849. He took his seat in 
the Senate in December of that year, and devoted himself with 
all his energy to the task of bringing about a settlement of the 
slavery contest. During this session of Congress he addressed 
the Senate seventy times. He introduced into the Senate, on 
the 29th of January, 1850, a series of resolutions designed to 
settle the points in dispute, and was the chairman of the Com- 
mittee which reported the " Omnibus Bill," which embodied 
the Compromise of 1850. While the Compromise was under 
discussion, he was never absent from the Senate a day, though 
he was often so sick and feeble that even with assistance he 
could scarcely reach his seat. In reply to the proposition of 

Senator Jefferson Davis to extend the Missouri Compromise 
33 



514 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



line to the Pacific, and thus throw open to slavery the country 
south of that line obtained from Mexico, Mr. Clay declared 
that " no earthly power can induce me to vote for a specific 
measure for the introduction of slavery where it has not 
existed, either north or south of that line. * * * I am un- 
willing that the posterity of the present inhabitants of Califor- 
nia and of New Mexico should reproach us for doing just what 
we reproach Great Britain for doing to us. * * If the citizens 
of those Territories come here with constitutions establishing 
slavery, I am for admitting them into the Union ; but then it 
will be their own work, and not ours, and their posterity will 
have to reproach them, and not us." 

His last great speech on the Compromise subjected him to 
a physical strain which he was not able to endure, and from 
which he never recovered. On the morning it was to be de- 
livered, as he alighted from his carriage at the foot of the long 
flight of steps which led up the Capitol, he said to a friend who 
accompanied him : "Will you lend me your arm, my friend? 
for I find myself quite weak and exhausted this morning." 
" Had you not better defer your speech ?" asked his companion. 
" My dear friend," said the dying statesman, " I consider our 
country in danger, and if I can be the means, in any measure, 
of averting that danger, my health or life is of little conse- 
quence." When he rose to address the Senate he was so weak 
as to be hardly able to stand, and was so much interrupted by 
his cough that he could scarcely proceed. Rallying all his 
force, however, he continued ; his cough left him, and he spoke 
with all the fervor and eloquence of old, and with more effect, 
as all who heard him knew it was the last effort of his genius. 
On the second day he was so much exhausted that his friends 
repeatedly proposed an adjournment until the next day; but he 
persisted in speaking until he had closed his address, as he felt, 
he afterwards declared, that had he given way to an adjourn- 
ment, he would never have been able to resume his speech. 

In this speech he declared that any one who should raise the 
flag of disunion and seek to follow it up by corresponding acts 
would be a traitor, " and I hope," he added, " he will meet a 
traitor's fate." " If Kentucky to-morrow should unfurl the 
banner of resistance unjustly," he declared, "I will never fight 



HENRY CLAY. 515 

under that banner. I owe a paramount allegiance to the whole 
Union — a subordinate one to my own State. * * If any one 
State, or a portion of the people of any State, choose to place 
themselves in military array against the Government of the 
Union, I am for trying the strength of the Government. I am 
for ascertaining whether we have a Government or not. * * * 
The Senator speaks of Virginia being my country. This 
Union, sir, is my country; the thirty States are my country, 
Kentucky is my country, and Virginia no more than any State 
in the Union. * * * There are those who believe that the 
Union must be preserved by an exclusive reliance upon love 
and reason. That is not my opinion. I have some confidence 
in this instrumentality ; but, depend upon it, no human govern- 
ment can exist without the power of applying force, and the 
actual application of it in extreme cases." 

Mr. Clay's efforts were at last crowned with success, and in 
September, 1850, the Compromise measures were adopted by 
Congress, and received the approval of the President. The 
course of Mr. Clay in securing the passage of these measures 
was justly regarded as the crowning glory of his life. It won 
for him the love and confidence of the whole country, without 
regard to party, and the man who " had rather be right than be 
President," had the proud satisfaction of seeing all the faults 
and mistakes of his earlier years forgotten in the confidence 
and gratitude with which his countrymen regarded him. 

Mr. Clay now ceased to take an active part in the questions 
of the day, for it was fitting that his life should close with this 
great service to his country. His health failed rapidly, but he 
continued to hold his seat in the Senate. He died at Wash- 
ington on the 29th of June, 1852, at the age of seventy-five. 
He was honored with a public funeral at Washington, and his 
remains were conveyed to Ashland, and interred in his family 
burying ground on his farm. Honors were showered upon his 
memory in all parts of the Union, and he was laid to his rest 
amid a nation's unaffected mourningf. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 

EBENEZER WEBSTER was a native of New Hampshire, 
and a farmer, as his fathers had been before him. He had 
served in the French War, entering the struggle as a private, 
and coming out of it a Captain. For his services in this war 
he received a grant of land in the mountainous region at the 
head of the Merrimack River. He settled on this grant, and 
by hard work and true New England energy, converted it into 
a farm capable of yielding him a support for his family. He 
took up arms for his country at the outbreak of the Revolution, 
and commanded his company in the battles of White Plains 
and Bennington, and returned home only at the close of the 
war. The hardships he encountered in his two wars greatly 
impaired his physical vigor, and afflicted him with rheumatism. 
His little farm afforded him a small dependence, and his salary 
as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, to which office he was 
appointed soon after the close of the Revolution, was but four 
hundred dollars. He was a man of strong, earnest character, 
of independent views, and pure life. He was a Federalist by 
nature as well as from conviction, and was much respected and 
looked up to by his neighbors. His second wife was Abigail 
Eastman. He had ten children, and as he was a poor man 
throughout his life, it taxed his resources sorely to provide for 
them during their childhood and start them in their several 
callings in the world. 

Daniel Webster, the youngest son of Judge Webster and 
his second wife, was born at Salisbury, on his father's farm, 
on the 1 8th of January, 1782. He grew up on the farm, and 
was a delicate, sickly boy, incapable of hard work, and very 
fond of play. This delicacy of constitution induced his father to 
decide upon giving him an education which would enable him 
to earn his living in one of the professions, as it was evident 
he would never be fit for the rough manual labor of a farmer. 

The schools of the mountainous region of New Hampshire 

(516) 




DANIEL WEBSTER. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 517 

were poor at that day, but it was at one of these that Daniel 
gained the rudiments of his education. He became a noted 
reader at an early age, a gift which he inherited from his father, 
but he gave no other indications of unusual talent. He was 
fond of fishing, and always had strength enough to tramp over 
the hills, gun in hand, after squirrels ; and was an adept in the 
art of cock-fighting. He was obliged to assist in running his 
father's saw mill, and this he used to say was the best school 
he ever attended. He would take his book with him, and when 
the saw had been set and the water turned on, he was sure of 
fifteen mmutes of quiet before the log would again need his at- 
tention, and this period he gave to his book. " We had so few 
books," he said, in after life, " that to read them once or twice 
was nothing. We thought they were all to be got by heart." 
He derived considerable benefit from the small town library, 
founded at Salisbury by his father, the clergyman of the town, 
and Mr. Thompson, the lawyer of the place. "The Spectator" 
was a favorite, and he read it over and over again. ' It was to 
it that he doubtless owed the simple and straightforward style 
he was noted for in after life. 

Judge Webster at first intended to make a school-master of 
Daniel, and finding that he had passed far beyond the reach 
of the rustic schools of the vicinity, sent him to the Academy at 
Exeter in 1796. He made rapid progress while at this school, 
but could never conquer the shyness which prevented him 
from taking part in the declamation exercises of the pupils. 
In other respects he gave great promise. Mr. Nicholas Emery, 
afterwards a distinguished lawyer and judge of Massachusetts, 
was an assistant tutor at the Exeter Academy. He relates 
that when Daniel Webster was first placed under him he as- 
signed him to one of the lowest classes. At the end of the 
first month, he said to him, "Webster, you will pass into the 
other room, and join a higher class. Boys," he added to the 
rest of the class, "you will take a final leave of Webster; you 
^v^ill never see him again." 

Judge Webster was not able to bear the expense of keeping 
his son at Exeter, and in February, 1797, Daniel was called 
home, and was placed in the family of the Rev. Samuel Wood, 
of the neighboring town of Boscawen, whose whole charge 



5l8 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

for board and tuition was one dollar per week. Judge Web- 
ster had been so much pleased with Daniel's progress at Exeter 
that he had determined to strain his resources to the utmost, 
and send him to college. His object in placing him under 
Mr. Wood was to prepare him for college. On the ride to 
Boscawen, he informed Daniel of his intention concerning him. 
"I remember," says Mr. Webster, "the very hill which we 
were ascending through deep snows, in a New England sleigh, 
when my father made known this purpose to me. I could not 
speak. How could he, I thought, with so large a family and 
such narrow circumstances, think of incurring so great an ex- 
pense for me ? A warm glow ran all over me, and I laid my 
head on my father's shoulder and wept." 

Daniel spent a year and a half under Mr. Wood, studying 
manfully, and in the autumn of 1797, entered the Freshman 
class of Dartmouth College, engaging to make up his deficien- 
cies by extra study. He spent four years at college, and 
studied faithfully. He was fond of Latin and learned it so 
well that in after years he read the Roman authors with plea- 
sure. Greek he had no liking for, or mathematics either. He 
was an indefatigable reader, and it was from the college library, 
rather than from his text books, that he derived most of his 
learning. He read largely in history and English literature, a 
practice which he continued throughout life. Biography was 
also a favorite study with him. While at Dartmouth he suc- 
ceeded in overcoming his shyness, and engaged with ardor in 
the debates of the College Societies. He won the distinction 
of being the first speaker in the college, and in 1800, while a 
Junior, and but eighteen years of age, delivered the Fourth of 
July Oration, which was spoken of as an admirable effort for 
so young a man. 

The vacations of the young student were passed in teaching 
school. Though the expense of his college career averaged 
but one hundred and fifty dollars a year, it put his father to 
great straits to raise that sum, and Daniel was very willing to 
lighten his father's load by his own exertions whenever possi- 
ble. His earnings were also devoted to another purpose. He 
was deeply attached to his brother Ezekiel, and he was anxious 
that he too should enjoy the advantages of a collegiate educa- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 



519 



tion. A part of his earnings went therefore to assist in paying 
Ezekiel's expenses. Daniel won his father's consent to the 
arrangement, but with some little difficulty. " His father, now 
advanced in years, infirm, 'an old man before his time' through 
hardship and toil, much in debt, depending chiefly upon his 
salary of four hundred dollars a year as Judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas, and heavily taxed to maintain Daniel in col- 
lege, had seen all his other sons married and settled except 
Ezekiel, upon whom he leaned as the staff of his declining 
years, and the main dependence of his wife and two maiden 
daughters. Nevertheless, Daniel, after a whole night of con- 
sultation with his brother, urged the old man to send Ezekiel to 
college also. The fond and generous father replied, that he had 
but little property, and it would take all that little to carry 
another son through college to a profession; but he lived only 
for his children, and, for his own part, he was willing to run the 
risk ; but there were the mother and the two unmarried sisters, 
to whom the risk was far more serious. If they consented, he 
was willing. The mother said: *I have lived long in the world 
and have been happy in my children. If Daniel and Ezekiel 
will promise to take care of me in my old age, I will consent 
to the sale of all our property at once, and they may enjoy the 
benefit of that which remains after our debts are paid.' Upon 
hearing this, all the family dissolved in tears, and the old man 
gave his consent." Fortunately, it did not require such a sac- 
rifice on the part of the parents. In due time Ezekiel was sent 
to prepare for college at the cost of one dollar per week, an 
expense which Daniel's earnings kelped to lighten. 

Daniel was universally regarded in the college as the first 
man in his class, but in graduating he took a very low position. 
He left college in 1801, and returning home entered the office 
of Mr. Thompson, the lawyer of the town, as a student of law. 
His father had abandoned the plan of making a teacher of 
him, and had entered readily into his son's desire to embrace 
the more promising profession of the law. Here he remained 
until he began to perceive that his duty to his father required 
that he should support himself 

He obtained the place of principal of the Academy at Frey- 
burg, Maine, at a salary of ^350 per annum, and entered upon 



520 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

his new duties in January, 1802. He boarded with the Regis- 
ter of Deeds at Freyburg, at a cpst of $2 per week. In order 
to increase his slender income he devoted his evenings to 
copying deeds, a labor which he detested, and earned sufficient 
money in this way to enable him to lay by the greater part of 
his salary to pay a part of the expenses of his professional 
education, and help Brother Ezekiel through college He was 
very poor^ and says he was generally threadbare and out at the 
heels, but managed to send a part of his earnings to his father, 
to whom the assistance was most grateful. In the midst of his 
poverty and struggles, however, he was an innocent-hearted, 
merry lad, always ready to enjoy a joke or to perpetrate one, 
and quick to see and relish the humorous side of his own 
troubles. This abundance of animal spirits was a part of his 
nature, and distinguished him through life. 

In September, 1802, Daniel's school teaching came to a close, 
and he went back to his legal studies at Salisbury. The little 
money he had saved was exhausted at length, and in the winter 
of 1804 he went to Boston to try to get something to do. He 
had but one acquaintance in the town. Dr. Cyrus Perkins, then 
a struggling young physician, who had opened a private school 
to enable him to live while he was establishing himself in his 
profession. Dr. Perkins now considered himself sufficiently 
established to enable him to dispense with the school, and he 
was willing to give it up. Daniel saw in it a capital opening for 
Ezekiel, and hastened home with the good news. Ezekiel, who 
had now been some time at Dartmouth, obtained permission 
from the Faculty of the College to assume the charge of the 
school without severing his connection with the college, on 
condition of keeping up with his class by private study, a con- 
dition which he faithfully fulfilled. He at once hastened to 
Boston and relieved Dr. Perkins of his school. He did so well 
with it that he not only supported himself, but found himself 
able to send for Daniel to come to Boston and finish his legal 
studies. 

Daniel gladly obeyed the summons, and on the 17th of July, 
1 804, arrived in Boston. He had no acquaintances there but his 
brother and Dr. Perkins, and was well-nigh penniless. For a 
little while he hesitated what to do, but as he could not afford to 



DANIEL WEBSTER, 521 

lose any time in idleness, soon made up his mind. Mr. Chris- 
topher Gore, an eminent lawyer of Massachusetts, who was 
afterwards Governor of the State and United'States Senator, had 
just returned to Boston from London, where he had been re- 
siding as the agent of the United States under Jay's Treat)'', 
and had resumed the practice of his profession. Daniel Webster 
resolved to ask him to take him as a law student and clerk. 
" A young man as little known to Mr. Gore as myself," he says, 
" undertook to introduce me. In logic this would have been 
bad ; ignotum perignoUim. Nevertheless it succeeded here. We 
entered Mr. Gore's rooms, and my name was pronounced. I 
was shockingly embarrassed, but Mr. Gore's habitual courtesy 
of manner gave me courage to speak. I had the grace to be- 
gin with an unaffected apology ; told him my position was very 
awkward, my appearance there like an intrusion, and that if I 
expected anything but a civil dismission, it was only founded on 
his known kindness and generosity of character. I was from the 
country, I said, had studied law for two years, and had come 
to Boston to study a year more ; had some respectable acquaint- 
ances in New Hampshire, not unknown to him, but had no in- 
troduction ; that I had heard that he had no clerk, and thought 
it possible he might receive one ; that I came to Boston to 
work and not to play ; was most desirous on all accounts to be 
his pupil, and all I ventured to ask at present was, that he 
would keep a place for me in his office till I could write to New 
Hampshire for proper letters showing me worthy of it. I de- 
livered this speech trippingly on the tongue, though I suspect 
it was better composed than spoken. Mr. Gore heard me with 
much encouraging good nature. He evidently saw my embar- 
rassment, spoke kind words, and asked me to sit down. My 
friend had already disappeared. Mr. Gore said what I had sug- 
gested was very reasonable and required little apology ; he did 
not mean to fill his office with clerks, but was willing to receive 
one or two, and would consider what I had said. He inquired 
of me and I told him what gentlemen of his acquaintance 
knew me and my father in New Hampshire. He talked to me 
pleasantly for half an hour, and when I rose to depart, he said : 
' My friend, you look as though you might be trusted. You say 
you came to study, and not to waste time. I will take you at 



522 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

your word. You may as well go hang up your hat at once, go 
into the other room, take your book, and sit down to reading it, 
and write at your convenience to New Hampshire for your 
letters.' " 

Mr. Webster very justly regarded his admission to Mr. Gore's 
office, as "a good stride onward." He remained in Mr. Gore's 
office from July 20th, 1 804, to March, 1805, and during this 
period devoted himself with energy to his studies, and was 
regular in his attendance upon the Courts. During this time 
he read, besides the strictly professional works laid down for 
him by Mr. Gore, " Ward's Law of Nations," Vattel for the 
third time. Lord Bacon's " Elements," and Pufendorfs Latin 
Compendium of the History of Europe. His miscellaneous 
reading was also extensive. His studies were mainly in the 
Common Law, which he traced back to its sources, studying 
it in the old Latin and Norman-French writers. 

While he was with Mr. Gore, his brother Ezekiel went back 
to Dartmouth to graduate, and during his absence from Bos- 
ton, Daniel took charge of his school. 

Just before his legal studies were completed, Daniel was 
offered the clerkship of his father's Court, with a salary of 
$1500 per annum. Judge Webster was very anxious that his 
son should accept this offer, as it would not only give him a 
competence, but enable him to do something for the assistance 
of his family. Daniel made up his mind to give up his legal 
studies and take the clerkship, and hastened to Mr. Gore, and 
exultingly told him of his good fortune. Mr. Gore had a 
thorough appreciation of the capabilities of Daniel Webster's 
character, and was resolved that this promising young man 
should not forsake his true destiny for so insignificant a career 
as that of the clerk of a country court. He met Daniel's joy 
with a coldness which thoroughly checked it, and then set to 
work to reason seriously with him, and finally succeeded in 
inducing him to reject the clerkship, and continue his legal 
studies. Judge Webster was sorely disappointed by his son's 
decision; but in an interview with him, in which Daniel stated 
the reasons for his course, acknowledged that the young man 
had acted wisely. 

In the spring of 1 805, Daniel Webster was admitted to the 
bar in the Court of Common Pleas of Boston. Mr. Gore pre- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 523 

sented his application, and in the brief address customary on 
such occasions, predicted that his pupil would rise to an un- 
usual eminence at the bar. He lived to see his prediction 
more than verified. 

After receiving his license, Daniel Webster went back home, 
and opened an office at Boscawen, close by, resolved to devote 
himself to his father's support for the balance of the old man's 
life. His first case was tried before his father as judge, and his 
success was sufficient to give him a moderate but fair start in 
business. He remained at Boscawen for a little more than a 
year, and in the spring of 1 806, was admitted to the Bar of the 
Superior Court of New Hampshire. In the same year his 
father died, and the incentive to his remaining at his old home 
being thus removed, Mr. Webster resolved to seek a wider 
field of action. Towards the close of 1806 he resigned his 
practice to his brother Ezekiel, and removed to Portsmouth. 

Portsmouth was then, as now, the largest town and principal 
seaport of New Hampshire, and enjoyed then the additional 
honor of being the capital of the State. Among the lawyers 
practicing at its bar were many of the most superior men of 
New England. At the head of the New Hampshire bar stood 
Jeremiah Mason, whose gigantic frame was matched by a mas- 
sive intellect, and around him gathered a score or more of able 
men. The courts of Portsmouth were regularly attended by 
the best men at the Massachusetts bar also, such as Samuel 
Dexter, who shared with Theophilus Parsons the leadership of 
his profession in New England, and Joseph Story. These were 
the men who were Mr. Webster's associates in his new field of 
labor ; and though so young, he from the first took his place 
among them, and was recognized by them as a worthy co- 
laborer. He was regarded from the first by the people of New 
Hampshire as the only man in the State capable of contending 
successfully with Jeremiah Mason. " Mason was a vigilant, vig- 
orous opponent, sure to be well up in the law and the facts of 
a cause, sure to detect a flaw in the argument of opposing 
counsel. It was in keen encounters with this wary and learned 
man that Daniel Webster learned his profession ; and this he 
always acknowledged. ' If,' he said once in conversation, ' if 
anybody thinks I am somewhat familiar with the law on some 



524 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

points, and should be curious to know how it happened, tell 
him that Jeremiah Mason compelled me to study it. He was 
my master.' It is honorable, too, to both of them, that rivals 
as they were, they were fast and affectionate friends, each valu- 
ing in the other the qualities in which he was surpassed by him, 
and each believing that the other was the first man of his time 
and country." 

Mr. Webster settled in Portsmouth at a critical time in the 
history of the country. The British Orders in Council and the 
French Decrees were subjecting the United States to constant 
and heavy losses, and the whole country was intent upon find- 
ing a way to put an end to the evil. President Jefferson had 
resolved upon the Embargo, a measure which was particularly 
odious to Federalist New England. Mr. Webster was a 
thorough Federalist, and was heartily opposed to the policy of 
the President, He took part in the public demonstrations at 
Portsmouth against the President's policy, and by his speeches 
and resolutions won considerable credit from his party. 

He did not take a very active part in politics just yet, how- 
ever; for in 1808 he married Grace Fletcher, the daughter of a 
clergyman of Hopkinton, an elegant and accomplished lady, 
who bore him three sons and a daughter. But one of these, 
Fletcher Webster, survived him. He fell at the head of his 
regiment at the second battle of Bull Run, August 29th, 1862. 
The necessity of providing for his wife and his children, as they 
came, caused Mr. Webster to devote himself to his practice 
with more than his ordinary energy. He soon acquired a 
comfortable support, and his practice increased as rapidly as he 
could desire. 

In the summer of 1812 the quarrel with England culminated 
in war with that country. The Federalist party now had need 
of its best talent in Congress, and Mr. Webster was induced to 
enter that body. He was elected to the House of Representa- 
tives in November, 18 12, and took his seat at the special ses- 
sion in May, 1 81 3. Mr. Cl^y, the Speaker, appointed him on 
the Committee of Foreign Affairs. 

The Thirteenth Congress is conspicuous in our history for 
the number of great men who served in the Lower House — 
such men as Clay, Calhoun, Lowndes, Pickering, Gaston, and 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 525 

Forsyth. Among these giants Mr. Webster at once took his 
place as an equal. He had opposed the policy of President 
Madison in declaring war, but now that the conflict had come, 
he was in favor of carrying it on with energy and decision. He 
was especially anxious that the Navy, which had already shown 
its ability to cope with England, should be strengthened, in 
order that the war might be waged as vigorously at sea as on 
land. 

Early in September, 18 13, he introduced the resolutions 
offered in the House upon the repeal of the Berlin and Milan 
Decrees of France, and took this occasion to deliver his first 
important speech in Congress. The House was taken by sur- 
prise, and Mr. Webster was regarded from this time as one of 
its ablest members. Chief Justice Marshall was present, and 
was delighted with the orator. " At the time when this speech 
was made," he wrote to Judge Story, " I did not know Mr. 
Webster; but I was so much struck with it, that I did not 
hesitate then to state that Mr. Webster was a very able man, 
and would become one of the very first statesmen in America, 
perhaps the very first." 

After this speech Mr. Webster took a very active part in the 
proceedings of the House. He remained the constant friend 
of the Navy, and insisted that the money spent in the fruitless 
invasions of Canada would be better used if applied to the 
building of first-class frigates and ships of the line. He advo- 
cated with all his powers the repeal of the Embargo. His 
speeches in Congress displayed such remarkable resources of 
learning, and such familiarity with international and parliamen- 
tary law and usage, that Mr. Lowndes, of South Carolina, said 
of him, " the North had not his equal nor the South his super- 
ior." Mr. Webster had the good fortune to make no enemies 
in Congress. He expressed his views with independence and 
vigor, but with the most courteous deference to his opponents. 
As a consequence he made friends in the ranks of the Republi- 
cans, as well as among his own party. 

In August, 1 8 14, Mr. Webster was re-elected to Congress. 
He opposed the proposition made before the close of the war 
to charter a new Bank of the United States, on the ground that 
the proposed bank was relieved by the Act of incorporation 



526 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of the obligation to redeem its notes in specie. The same 
course was pursued by Lowndes and Calhoun. Mr. Webster's 
speeches on the subject showed him to have mastered the diffi- 
cult questions of banking, finance, and currency. The ease and 
self-possession with which he conducted the debate were na- 
tural to him, and were the result of his confidence in his own 
powers. 

During the recesses of Congress Mr. Webster devoted 
himself to his profession, and his practice increased yearly. 
Had he been more careful in money matters, he would soon 
have been independent. In December, 181 3, a large part of 
Portsmouth was destroyed by fire. Among the buildings 
burned was Mr. Webster's office, and with it went his library, 
his papers, and all the accumulation of his professional labors. 
It was a severe blow to him, but he bore it without flinching. 

The Fourteenth Congress was called upon to inaugurate 
measures for restoring to the country the prosperity of which 
the war had deprived it. As a member of the little band which 
still clung to the name of Federalist, though the party that had 
borne it was no more, Mr. Webster opposed the policy of the 
administration. He opposed the scheme for the revival of the 
Bank of the United States in 18 16, and voted against the bill 
for that purpose. He introduced and secured the passage of 
an amendment to the bill requiring the payment of deposits as 
well as the notes of the bank in specie, and his speeches against 
the bank compelled its friends to strip it of some of its most 
objectionable features. He also opposed the Protective Tariff 
of 18 16, and in the debate with Mr. Clay upon the subject had 
decidedly the advantage, though he did not succeed in defeat- 
ing the Tariff. He introduced the bill requiring all payments 
into the Treasury of the United States, after February 20th, 
18 1 7, to be made in specie or its equivalent. He carried the 
measure through Congress, and had the satisfaction of seeing 
it restore the value of the depreciated currency of the United 
States. 

Having decided to leave Portsmouth and seek a field of labor 
which should afford him the opportunity of earning a more 
ample support for his family, Mr. Webster hesitated for some 
time whether to settle in Boston or Albany, but at last decided 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 52/ 

in favor of the former place, and removed there from Ports- 
mouth in the summer of 1816. His professional life in New 
Hampshire, and his career in Congress, had already made him 
one of the most noted men in New England, and he at once 
took a prominent position at the Massachusetts Bar. He was 
cordially" welcomed by his professional brethren in Boston, and 
was regarded as a decided acquisition to the social circles of 
the New England metropolis. 

He now withdrew from politics, and for the next seven years 
devoted himself entirely to his profession. He worked hard, 
and always had as much as he could do. Besides earning a 
handsome income, he established his great professional reputa- 
tion upon an enduring basis. " He took a position as a coun- 
sellor and an advocate," says Edward Everett, " above which 
no one has ever risen in this country. A choice of the best 
business of New England, and of that of the whole country 
which was adjudicated at Washington, passed into his hands. 
Besides the reputation which he acquired in the ordinary rou- 
tine of practice, Mr. Webster, shortly after his removal to Bos- 
ton, took a distinguished lead in establishing what might be 
called a sch©ol of constitutional law. It fell to his lot to per- 
form a prominent part in unfolding a most important class of 
constitutional doctrines, which, either because occasion had 
not, as yet, drawn them forth, or the jurists of a former period 
had failed to deduce and apply them, had not yet grown into a 
system. It was reserved for Mr, Webster to distinguish him- 
self before most, if not all, of his contemporaries in this branch 
of the profession." 

The first of these causes was that of Dartmouth College, his 
Alma Mater. In June and December, 1816, the Legislature 
of New Hampshire passed a series of laws altering the char- 
ter of the college, and changing its name to Dartmouth Uni- 
versity. The number of trustees was enlarged and the corpo- 
ration entirely reorganized. The trustees of the college entered 
a formal protest against these acts, but it was disregarded by 
the Legislature, and the objectionable laws were enacted in 
spite of it and received the Governor's sanction. The new 
Board of Trustees appointed under these laws took possession 
of the college, and assumed the management of the institution. 



528 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The old trustees had all been named members of the new 
Board, but they refused to serve, and determined to test the 
constitutionality of the action of the Legislature. In order to 
accomplish this, they brought suit against the Treasurer of the 
new Board for the record books, original charter, the common 
seal, and other corporate property of the college. The general 
issue was pleaded by the defendants and joined by the plain- 
tiffs. The case turned upon the points whether the acts of the 
Legislature above referred to were binding upon the old cor- 
poration without their assent, and were not repugnant to the 
Constitution of the United States. It was argued twice in the 
New Hampshire Courts, and at the second trial Mr. Webster, 
Jeremiah Mason, and Judge Smith appeared for the plaintiffs, 
and argued the case before the Court of Appeals. Chief Jus- 
tice Richardson, of New Hampshire, decided that the acts of 
the Legislature were constitutional and valid. The case was 
appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, and was 
argued before that body on the loth of March, i8i8. Mr. 
Webster and Mr. Hopkinson, of Philadelphia, appeared for the 
plaintiffs; the defendants in error were represented by Wm. 
Wirt, the Attorney General of the United States, and John 
Holmes, of Maine. 

One of the judges, as the case was called, glanced over the 
record, and declared to one of his associates that he did not 
see what could be said on the side of the plaintiffs. Mr. 
Webster, however, took the broad ground that the acts of the 
Legislature of New Hampshire were not only in violation of 
common right and of the Constitution of the State, but were 
also — and this was his main point — in violation of the Article 
of the Constitution of the United States which forbids the in- 
dividual Slates to pass laws impairing the obligation of con- 
tracts. He argued his case with such force and effect, and dis- 
played such great learning in the principles of the English and 
American law that he held the attention of the court through- 
out. His arguments proved conclusively that the endowment 
of a college is private property ; and that the charter of a col- 
lege is that which constitues its endowment private property. 
His views were accepted by the Supreme Court, and at the 
term of 1819, Chief Justice Marshall delivered the opinion of 



DANIEL WEBSTER 529 

the court, to which there was but one dissenting voice, declar- 
ing the acts of the New Hampshire Legislature unconstitutional, 
and reversing the decision of the court below. By this decision, 
the law of the United States with reference to collegiate insti- 
tutions was firmly established on a basis of common right and 
justice. From his time American colleges have held their 
property and franchises by the same tenure as private individ- 
uals, and have been freed from the capricious interference of 
State Legislatures. 

Another case of this kind in which Mr. Webster acquired 
considerable fame was the suit of Livingston against certain 
citizens of New Jersey for a violation of the monopoly of the 
navigation of the waters of New York granted to Fulton and 
Livingston by the Legislature of New York. Mr. Webster 
went to the bottom of the controversy in a brief sentence. 
" The commerce of the United States, under the Constitution 
of 1787," he said, " is a unit," and " what we call the waters of 
the State of New York are, for the purposes of navigation and 
commerce, the waters of the United States," and he held that 
no State could grant exclusive privileges in such waters. The 
Supreme Court held that this was the true doctrine ; Mr. Web- 
ster won his case ; and the inland waters of the Union were 
thrown open to the enterprise of the whole nation. 

These cases established Mr. Webster's reputation as a jurist, 
and from this time he was acknowledged as the equal of Emmet, 
Pinckney and Wirt, the great leaders of the American Bar. He 
never lacked for business of the most honorable and profitable 
nature after this, and was retained in almost every case of im- 
portance tried before the Supreme Court. After his return to 
Congress his residence at Washington for the greater part of 
the year enabled him to continue his practice in the Supreme 
Court, and attend to his Congressional duties at the same time. 

During his retirement from politics, Mr. Webster served as 
a member of the Convention which met to revise the Constitu- 
tion of the State of Massachusetts. He was regarded as its 
ablest member, and rendered valuable service in framing the 
new Constitution. 

During the session of this Convention, Mr. Webster was 
selected to deliver the address at Plymouth, on the 22d of 
34 



530 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

December, 1820, the two hundredth anniversary of the Land- 
ing of the Pilgrim Fathers. His address was a noble effort, 
and was read with deep interest in all parts of the Union. It 
was the first of a series of similar orations which were in them- 
selves enough to establish his fame as an orator, and which 
constitute a peculiar school of their own, to which Mr. Everett 
applies the name of "patriotic eloquence." The other addresses 
of this series were delivered at the laying of the corner-stone of 
the Bunker Hill Monument, June 17, 1825 ; at the completion 
of the Monument, June 17, 1843; the Eulogy upon Adams and 
Jefferson in 1826; and at the laying of the corner-stone of the 
new Capitol at Washington in 185 1. 

At this time the elections in Massachusetts for members of 
Congress were held a year or two in advance, and in the fall 
of 1822 Mr. Webster was elected to the i8th Congress, in 
which he took his seat at its opening in December, 1823. Early 
in the session he delivered an eloquent address in favor of the 
recognition of the independence of Greece, in which he de- 
nounced the Holy Alliance, and the efforts of that league to 
quench the spirit of popular freedom in Europe. During this 
session also he opposed the Tariff of 1824, and declared that 
the Protective system was not only wrong, but unnecessary. 
As chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House he re- 
ported and secured the passage of a bill for the revision of the 
entire criminal code of the United States. 

It became the duty of the House of Representatives at the 
second session of the i8th Congress, in 1825, to elect a Presi- 
dent of the United States. The Massachusetts delegation na- 
turally supported Mr. Adams. Mr. Webster threw the whole 
weight of his influence in Mr. Adams's behalf, and did much to 
win for him the votes of other States. The election of Mr. 
Adams took Mr. Webster out of the ranks of the opposition, 
and made him a supporter of the Administration. He was 
returned to the 19th Congress in 1825, but the next year was 
elected by the Legislature of Massachusetts to the Senate of 
the United States to succeed Mr. Mills, who had resigned on 
account of ill health. 

In the debate of the Tariff of 1828, which was far more pro- 
tective than that of 1824, Mr. Webster supported the Tariff 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 531 

and advocated the protective policy as warmly as he had op- 
posed it in 1824. The opponents of the measure taunted him 
with his sudden change of opinion, and he replied that New 
England having been compelled by the act of 1824 to transfer 
the better part of her capital from commerce to manufactures, 
he was bound, as her representative, to demand the continuance 
of the system. It must be confessed that while this answer 
may have satisfied Mr. Webster's New England friends, it will 
add nothing to his fame as a statesman. 

In the 2 1st Congress occurred the famous debate between 
Mr. Webster and Senator Hayne, of South Carolina. On the 
29th of December, 1829, Senator Foote introduced into the 
Senate a resolution of inquiry concerning the sales and surveys 
of the public lands in the West. The resolution was debated at 
some length, but the debate did not attract much attencion 
until the 19th of January, 1830, when Senator Hayne, of South 
Carolina, delivered an elaborate speech in the Senate, calling 
in question the conduct of the New England States towards the 
West, and accusing them of a selfish desire to retard the growth 
of the new States — a design, he said, originating in the policy 
of the Tariff, which required the New England States to keep 
their population from emigrating to the West. He endeavored 
to show that there existed a natural sympathy between the 
Western and Southern States upon the questions of the distri- 
bution and sale of the public lands, which ought to make those 
sections natural allies against the tendencies and consequences 
of the Tariff policy of New England. 

Mr. Webster was very busy in the Supreme Court at this 
time, and merely chanced to walk into the Senate chamber as 
Mr. Hayne was speaking. He had no intention of taking any 
part in the debate, but seeing the drift of Mr. Hayne's remarks, 
stopped and heard him out. Thinking that the speech de- 
manded a reply, he arose to answer Mr. Hayne when the latter 
sat down. Col. Benton, however, moved an adjournment, to 
which Mr. Webster consented. This of course gave him the 
right to the floor the next day — the 20th — on which occasion 
he delivered a powerful reply to Mr. Hayrie, effectually repell- 
ing the charges of the latter against New England. The next 
day, the 21st, Mr. Hayne replied to Mr. Webster, but, owing 



532 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

to an adjournment of the debate, did not finish the speech until 
the 25th. He touched upon a great many topics in the course 
of his remarks, assailed New England with great bitterness, 
attacked Mr. Webster in the most personal manner, called in 
question the patriotism of Massachusetts, and concluded by 
repeating in terms of warm eulogium the doctrine he had an- 
nounced in his first speech, that a State in the exercise of its 
sovereign power might render inoperative, or nullify, within its 
limits, any act of Congress which it deemed unconstutional. 
Apart from its personalities, Mr. Hayne's speech was able and 
argumentative, and calculated to do much harm if left un- 
answered. As the Senator from South Carolina resumed his 
seat, Mr. Webster rose to reply to him, but gave way to an ad- 
journment. 

The debate had now aroused the greatest interest in Wash- 
ington, and on the 26th the Senate Chamber was crowded to 
its utmost capacity. The galleries were filled with a brilliant 
and distinguished throng, and every available place on the floor 
of the Senate was occupied. Mr. Webster was deeply im- 
pressed with the importance of the occasion, and never ap- 
peared to better advantage than he did on this memorable day. 
He was in his forty-eighth year, his hair still retained its raven 
blackness, his form was stately, his eye clear and bright, and 
his massive forehead unwrinkled by time. He rose amid a 
profound silence, and throughout held his audience spell-bound. 
He spoke for two days, and his speech was in all respects the 
grandest outburst of eloquence ever heard within the walls of 
the capitol. He denied the doctrine that the Union was merely 
a compact of sovereign, independent States, from which any 
one of them could withdraw at pleasure ; and argued that the 
Constitution was the work of the people themselves, not as 
separate States, but as members of a great nation, and was 
designed to make the Union perpetual ; that the controversies 
between the States and the General Government were to be 
decided by the Supreme Court, the tribunal created for that 
purpose by the Constitution, and not by the States themselves; 
and that any attempt on the part of the people of a State to 
withdraw from the Union was treason. He vindicated Massa- 
chusetts from Mr. Hayne's assult upon her, and met his per- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 533 

sonal attacks with good-natured sarcasm. In conclusion he 
dwelt upon the necessity of the Union to the people of America, 
and closed his address with a noble peroration which affected 
his hearers profoundly. 

"I have not allowed myself, sir," he said, "to look beyond 
the Union to see what might lie hidden in the dark recesses 
behind. I have not coolly weighed the chances of preserving 
liberty when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken 
asunder. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the 
precipice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I 
can fathom the depth of the abyss below ; nor could I regard 
him as a safe counsellor in the affairs of this Government, 
whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not how 
the Union may be best preserved, but how tolerable might be 
the condition of the people when it should be broken up and 
destroyed. While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting, 
gratifying prospects spread out before us, for us and our chil- 
dren. Beyond that, I seek not to penetrate the veil. God 
grant that in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise. God 
grant that on my vision never may be opened what lies behind ! 
When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the 
sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and 
dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States 
dissevered, discordant and belligerent; on a land rent with 
civil feuds, and drenched, it may be, with fraternal blood ! Let 
their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gor- 
geous ensign of the Republic, now known and honored 
throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and 
trophies streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe erased 
or polluted, nor a single star obscured; bearing for its motto 
no such miserable interrogatory as ' What is all this worth ?' nor 
those other words of delusion and folly, ' Liberty first, and Union 
afterwards;' but everywhere, spread all over in characters of 
living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the 
sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole 
heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart, 
' Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.' " * 
^ "The whole of his previous life had been an unconscious preparation for these 



534 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



Mr. Hayne delivered a rejoinder, which was answered by 
Mr. Webster; but the great oration of the latter was unan- 
swerable. It utterly overturned the doctrine of Nullification, 
and brought home to the country the value and importance of 
the Union. From that time Daniel Webster was incompara- 
bly the first man in the North. He had made himself the 
champion of the Union, and his ringing words had found an 
echo in every patriotic heart in the country. 

During the Administrations of Jackson and Van Buren, Mr. 
Webster acted generally with the Whig party. He opposed 
Mr. Clay's Compromise on the Tariff question, as he held that 
the Government should make no concession to South Carolina 
until that State had submitted unqualifiedly to the law. He 
also opposed the sub-Treasury scheme of Mr. Van Buren, and 
delivered one of his most famous addresses upon this subject. 
Mr. S. Lloyd Jones, afterwards Lord Overstone, the highest 
authority in England at that day on financial questions, de- 
clared to a committee of the House of Commons that this 

great debates. It was one of the recollections of his childhood, that in his eighth 
year, he had bought a handkerchief upon which was printed the Constitution of 
1787, which he then read through; and while he was a farmer's boy at home, the 
great question of its acceptance or rejection had been decided. His father's party 
was the party for the Constitution, whose only regret concerning it was that it was 
not so much of a Constitution as they wished it to be. The Republicans dwelt 
upon its defects and dangers; the Federalists, upon its advantages and beauties; 
so that all this receptive lad heard of it at his father's fireside was of its value and 
necessity. We see in his youthful orations that nothing in the history of the con- 
tinent struck his imagination so powerfully as the spectacle of thirty-eight gentle- 
men meeting in a quiet city, and peacefully settling the terms of a national union 
between thirteen sovereign States, most of which gave up, voluntarily, what the 
sword alone was once supposed capable of extorting. In all his orations on days 
of national festivity or mourning, we observe that his weightiest eulogy falls upon 
those who were conspicuous in this great business. Because Hamilton aided in it, 
he revered his memory ; because Madison was its best interpreter, he venerated his 
name, and deferred absolutely to his judgment. * * His own triumphs at the bar 
— those upon which he plumed himself — were all such as resulted from his lonely 
broodings over, and patient study of, the Constitution of his country. A native 
of one of the smallest of the States, to which the Union was an unmixed benefit 
and called for no sacrifice of pride, he grew up into nationality without having to 
pass through any probation of States' rights scruples. Indeed it was as natural for 
a man of his callibre to be a national man, as it is for his own Monadnock to be 
there thousand feet above the level of the sea." — James Parton. 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 535 

speech was the ablest and most satisfactory discussion of these 
questions that he had ever seen. 

Mr. Webster rendered sufficient aid to the effort to overthrow 
the Democratic administration, which was successfully accom- 
plished in the election of General Harrison to the Presidency 
in 1840. General Harrison was anxious that Mr. Webster 
should be the Secretary of the Treasury in his Cabinet, but Mr. 
Webster preferred the Secretaryship of State, and was appointed 
to that position by the President. The death of General Har- 
rison so soon after his inauguration raised Vice-President John 
Tyler to the Chief Magistracy. The first act of the new Presi- 
dent was to retain the Cabinet of his predecessor in their posi- 
tions. The course of President Tyler with regard to the Bank 
of the United States, however, caused all the Cabinet officers, 
with the exception of the Secretary of State, to tender their 
resignations in the summer of 1841. 

Mr. Webster would have united with his colleagues in this 
action, but regarded it as his dut)^ to retain his office until he 
could bring to a close the negotiations he had begun with 
Great Britain for the settlement of the North-eastern boundary 
of the United States; for the rendition of fugitives from justice 
escaping from the territory of one natio;i into that of the other ; 
and for the co-operation of the two countries in the suppression 
of the African slave trade. Until these negotiations were 
brought to a successful close he felt that he had no right to 
indulge his personal feelings by resigning his office. The 
Treaty of Washington was concluded in 1842, and was accepted 
by both nations as a settlement of the questions at issue be- 
tween them. With this treaty the American Republic formally 
took its place among the great powers of the world. The 
negotiations being completed, Mr. Webster, who had greatly 
added to his reputation by his able conduct of them, resigned 
his place in the Cabinet of President Tyler in May, 1843. 

During the remainder of Mr. Tyler's administration, Mr. 
Webster remained in private life, devoting himself to the prac- 
tice of his profession, and to the management of his farm at 
Marshfield, near Plymouth. In the autumn of 1844 he made a 
number of speeches in support of Henry Clay for the Presi- 
dency; but accomplished nothing, as Mr. Polk was elected. 



53^ AMERICAN BIOGRAPHV. 

In 1845 Mr. Webster was once more elected to the Senate 
of the United States; this time as the successor of Rufus 
Choate. He took his seat in the Senate at the opening of the 
29th Congress, in December, 1845. He opposed the annexation 
of Texas (though he had favored the recognition of the inde- 
pendence of that Repubhc), basing his opposition upon consti- 
tutional grounds. He also opposed the Mexican War, but 
when it had been fairly begun gave the Government his support 
in its efforts to carry it through with credit to the countiy. 
Like Mr. Clay, he was a personal sufferer by this war, for his 
second son Edward, a promising young man, a Major in the 
army under General Scott, died in the City of Mexico shortly 
after its capture. He voted against the ratification of the Treaty 
of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, as he regarded it as full of future evils 
to the country. 

Mr. Webster's friends were in hopes that he would receive the 
nomination of the Whig Convention of 1848 for the Presidency, 
but the Convention nominated General Taylor, who was elected. 

Mr. W^ebster gave his earnest support to the Compromise 
Measures of 1850. On the 7th of March, 1850, he began his 
" great Union speech," which occupied three days in its delivery. 
It was one of his most powerful efforts, and contributed in a 
marked degree to the success of the Compromise Measures. 

Upon the death of General Taylor in July, 1850, Mr. Fill- 
more, the Vice-President, became President of the United 
States. The members of General Taylor's Cabinet tendered 
their resignations to the new President, who accepted them, 
and proceeded to appoint a new Cabinet, at the head of which 
he placed Mr. Webster as Secretary of State. 

Mr. Webster's friends were confident that the Whig Con- 
vention of 1852, which met at Baltimore, would nominate him 
for the Presidency, but were again doomed to disappointment, 
for the Convention passed him by and nominated General 
Scott. Mr. W^ebster keenly felt the injustice of his party, for 
he earnestly desired the Presidency, and had done some things 
in the hope of securing it of which his truest friends could 
not approve. He felt that he had a right, after the services he 
had rendered to and the sacrifices he had made for his party, 
to expect this reward at their hands ; but he was destined to 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 537 

learn that gratitude is not among the virtues of a political or- 
ganization. 

Mr. Webster was large and stout in frame, of swarthy com- 
plexion, and slow and heavy movement — a man of noble and 
commanding presence. He was fond of social pleasures, and 
dearly loved his ease. He was extremely generous, and could 
never resist an application for aid from a person he had reason 
to believe needed it. He was also distressingly careless about 
money matters, and while he constantly earned large sums in 
the exercise of his profession, was always more or less in debt. 
His fees sometimes amounted to twenty or twenty-five thou- 
sand dollars; but he died forty thousand dollars in debt. As 
a matter of course, he was subjected to repeated duns, and these 
distressed him very much if he was not able to pay them. 
He often relieved himself of these annoyances in a manner 
thoroughly characteristic of himself 

He once owed a considerable bill to a furniture dealer in one 
of the New England towns. The dealer wrote repeatedly for 
his money, but could obtain no satisfaction. Finally he re- 
solved to go to Washington, and present his bill to Mr. Web- 
ster in person. He arrived in the Federal City determined to 
press his claim with all the sternness he was master of, and in 
this frame of mind presented himself at Mr. Webster's house. 
He was told that Mr. Webster was entertaining a party of 
gentlemen at dinner, but insisted upon the servant taking his 
card in to him. Mr. Webster recognized the name, and sus- 
pected the business of his visitor. He was equal to the emer- 
gency, however. Excusing himself to his guests, he hastened 
to the hall, where his creditor was in waiting, and seizing him 
by the hand, greeted him cordially. 

" My old friend B , how do you do ? How good it is in 

you to remember me in your visit to the Capital." 

" But, Mr. Webster," said Mr. B , somewhat nonplussed 

by this cordial greeting, " I have come on a little matter of 
business ." 

"Yes, yes, I know," said Mr. Webster, still shaking his hand, 
"I know. We'll talk of that after awhile. You must go in 
and dine with me, and we'll talk of business when that is over." 

"I really haven't the time," said Mr. B , "and besides 

my business is ." 



538 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

"Never mind about your business just now," said Mr. Web- 
ster. " Dine with me you must. I have a party of the first 
men in the country in there, and I'll introduce you to them." 

"But, Mr. Webster ." 

"Oh, nonsense, B ," said Mr. Webster, laughing. "Do 

you think I would let an old fi"iend like you come to my house 
at my dinner hour, and go away without dining with me ? 
Here, John," he continued to the servant, who had been look- 
ing on in surprise, "take Mr. B 's hat and coat." 

Mr. B was quickly divested of his hat and overcoat, and 

was led by Mr. Webster into the brilliantly-lighted dining- 
room, where were gathered around the table a number of 
members of Congress and of the Cabinet, and one or two 
Governors. To each one Mr. Webster presented the new 

comer, as " Mr. B , of Massachusetts, one of my oldest and 

most valued friends." Of course Mr. B was cordially re- 
ceived by the distinguished company, and was made much of 
During the evening Mr. Webster was especially attentive to 

him, and when the company broke up Mr. B took his 

leave with the rest, without having hinted a word more on the 
subject of his business. The next day he went back home. 
Upon his return some of his neighbors, curious to know how 
he had prospered, asked him if he had collected any money 

from Mr. Webster. "I didn't ask him, sir," said Mr. B . 

" When I got to his house he was at dinner, but he came out 
and met me as if I had been his brother. He made me go in 
and dine with him, introduced me to a dozen Senators, mem- 
bers of the Cabinet, and Governors — the first men in the land, 
sir — and treated me like I was a prince. He asked my opinion 
on political matters before the whole lot of them, and made me 
feel like I was as good as any of them. Why, sir, I'd have 
died before I'd have asked such a man for a cent. Let him 
take his time about my bill." 

Mr. Lanman, his Secretary, says of him : " He made money 
with ease, and spent it without reflection. He had accounts 
with various banks, and men of all parties were glad to ac- 
commodate him with loans, if he wanted them. He kept no 
record of his deposits, unless it were on slips of paper hidden 
in his pockets; these matters were generally left with his Sec- 



DANIEL WEBSTER. 539 

retary. His notes were seldom or never regularly protested, 
and when they were, they caused him an immense deal of 
mental anxiety. When the writer has sometimes drawn a 
check for a couple of thousand dollars, he has not even looked 
at it, but packed it away in his pockets, like so much waste 
paper. During his long professional career, he earned money 
enough to make a dozen fortunes, but spent it liberally, and 
gave it away to the poor by hundreds and thousands. Begging 
letters from women and unfortunate men were received by him 
almost daily, at certain periods; and one instance is remem- 
bered where, on six successive days, he sent remittances of 
fifty and one hundred dollars to people with whom he was en- 
tirely unacquainted. He was indeed careless, but strictly and 
religiously honest, in all his money matters. He knew not 
how to be otherwise. The last fee which he ever received for 
a single legal argument was $i i,ooo. 

"A sanctimonious lady once called upon Mr. Webster, in 
Washington, with a long and pitiful story about her misfor- 
tunes and poverty, and asked him for a donation to defray her 
expenses to her home in a western city. He listened with all 
the patience he could manage, expressed his surprise that she 
should have called upon him for money, simply because he was 
an officer of the Government, and that, too, when she was a total 
stranger to him ; reprimanded her in very plain language for her 
improper conduct, and handed her a note of fifty dollars!' 

" He had called," says the same writer, " upon tlie cashier 
of the bank where he kept an account, for the purpose of get- 
ting a draft discounted, when that gentleman expressed some 
surprise, and casually inquired why he wanted so much money? 
'To spend; to buy bread and meat,' replied Mr. Webster, a 
little annoyed at this speech. 

"'But,' returned the cashier, 'you have already upon deposit 
in the bank no less than three thousand dollars, and I was only 
wondering why you wanted so much money.' 

" This was indeed the truth, but Mr. Webster had forgotten it." 

Mr. Webster's health had been failing for some time, and by 
the opening of the year 1852 he had become a constant suf- 
ferer. On the 4th of July, 185 1, he delivered the oration at 
the laying of the corner-stone of the new Capitol at Washing- 



540 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ton. He was so much exhausted that it was with difficulty 
that he could get through with his address. This was his last 
appearance on a public occasion. Early in May, 1852, he was 
thrown from a carriage near Marshfield, and was considerably 
injured. His health grew rapidly worse after this. In June he 
managed to get back to Washington, to resume the duties of 
his office, but was compelled to return to Marshfield in August. 
Having but little hope of recovery, he resigned his office to- 
wards the end of August, and spent his last days in quiet and 
in the retirement of his home. He failed rapidly, and on the 
the 24th of October, 1852, died at his home at Marshfield, sur- 
rounded by his family and a number of devoted friends, at the 
age of seventy. 

The President of the United States was anxious that the dead 
statesman should be honored with a public funeral at the ex- 
pense of the nation; but Mr, Webster had left instructions that 
his burial should be simply that of a private citizen, and his 
wishes were respected. 

At noon on Friday, the 29th of October, the remains of the 
dead man were laid in an open coffin under the old elm tree, 
under whose branches he had loved to sit in life. It was a 
glorious autumn day. "Around him," says Mr. Hillard, "was 
the landscape that he had loved, and above him was nothing 
but the dome of the covering heaven. The sunshine fell upon 
the dead man's face, and the breeze blew over it. A lover of 
nature, he seemed to be gathered into her maternal arms, and 
to lie like a child upon a mother's lap." A vast crowd from 
all parts of the Union within reach had assembled to take part 
in the ceremonies, and passed in silence by the body, to look 
for the last time upon the face New England had loved so well, 
" In that crowd there came one unknown man, in a plain and 
rustic garb, who truly and fitly, because in homeliest words, 
interpreted the thoughts that silently oppressed them all, when, 
looking down upon the face of the dead, he said, as if for him- 
self alone, ' Daniel Webster, the world, without you, will seem 
lonesome.' " 

When the funeral services were over, six sturdy New England 
farmers bore the coffin on their shoulders to the grave, and laid 
the dead statesman down to his eternal rest. 




JOHN C. CALHOUN. 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 

ABOUT the year 1732, a Presbyterian family by the name 
of Calhoun, consisting of the parents, four sons and a 
daughter, emigrated from the North of Ireland to America, and 
settled in Pennsylvania. Somewhat later the family removed 
to Western Virginia, but were soon driven from their new 
home by the Indians after the defeat of General Braddock. In 
1755 they passed Southward, hoping to find a securer place, 
and settled in the extreme West of South Carolina, in what is 
now Abbeville District, but then an unbroken wilderness. 

The youngest of the four sons was Patrick Calhoun, who was 
twenty-nine years old at the time the Calhoun settlement was 
founded. He was an earnest, impulsive man, and as stubborn 
as only a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian can be. He was also a 
man of sterling integrity and of great personal bravery. In 
1760 the Calhoun settlement was attacked by the Cherokees, 
who broke it up, killed one-half the settlers, and drove the 
others to the lower counties, where they were obliged to remain 
until the peace of 1763 made it safe for them to return to their 
forest home. A company of mounted rangers was organized 
to protect the frontiers against the Indians, and Patrick Calhoun 
was elected to the command. He performed his task with he- 
roic fidelity. In 1770 he married Martha Caldwell, a native of 
Virginia, but the daughter of an Irish Presbyterian. During 
the interval which elapsed between the close of the French and 
Indian War, and the outbreak of the Revolution, the Calhoun 
settlement prospered, and Patrick with it. He set himself to 
work to correct the deficiencies of his early education, and 
became a surveyor. The Revolution brought severe suffering 
to the settlement, for it exposed it to the attacks of the British, 
the Tories and the Cherokees. Patrick Calhoun embraced the 
Colonial cause with enthusiasm, and bore his part in many a 
hard-fought encounter with the savages and the Tories. He 

(541) 



542 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

was rewarded by the triumphant close of the war, and the 
establishment of the independence of his adopted country. 

The Calhoun family belonged to the class of poor, plam, 
hardworking people who settled the upper country of South 
Carolina. There was a wide difference between this class and 
the wealthy aristocratic settlers of the low country. " In the 
lower country, the estates were large, the slaves numerous, the 
white inhabitants few, idle and profuse. The upper country 
was peopled by a sturdier race, who possessed farms of moder- 
ate extent hewn out of the wilderness by their own strong arms, 
and tilled by themselves, with the aid of few slaves. Between 
the upper and lower country there was a vast region of sandy 
hills and'rocky acclivities, uninhabited, which rendered the two 
sections of one Province separate communities, scarcely known 
to one another. Down almost to the beginning of the Revolu- 
tionary War, the farmers of the upper country were not repre- 
sented in the Legislature of South Carolina, though they were 
then as numerous as the planters of the lower country. Be- 
tween the people of the two sections, there was little unity of 
feeling. The lordly planters of the lower country regarded 
their Western fellow-citizens as plebeian; the farmers of the 
upper country had some contempt for the planters as effemin- 
ate, aristocratic and Tory. The Revolution abased the pride, 
lessened the wealth and improved the politics of the planters ; 
a revised Constitution, in 1790, gave preponderance to the up- 
country farmers in the popular branch of the Legislature ; and 
thenceforth South Carolina was a sufficiently homogeneous 
commonwealth. ************ 

" Patrick Calhoun was the most radical of Democrats ; one 
of your despisers of conventionality; an enemy of lawyers, 
thinking the common sense of mankind competent to decide 
what is right without their aid ; a particular opponent of the 
arrogant pretensions of the low-country aristocrats. When the 
up-country people began to claim a voice in the Government, 
long since due to their numbers, the planters, of course, op- 
posed their demand. To establish their right to vote, Patrick 
Calhoun and a party of his neighbors, armed with rifles, 
marched across the State to within twenty-three miles of 
Charleston, and there voted in defiance of the plantation lords. 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 543 

Events like this led to the admission of members from the up- 
country ; and Patrick Calhoun was the first to represent that 
section in the Legislature. It was entirely characteristic of him 
to vote against the adoption of the Federal Constitution, on the 
ground that it authorized other people to tax Carolinians ; 
which he said was taxation without representation."^ 

John Caldwell Calhoun, the third son and fourth child of 
this sturdy Democrat, was born on his father's farm in Abbe- 
ville District, South Carolina, on the i8th of March, 1782. He 
was grave and thoughtful as a child, and inherited his father's 
ardent nature and persevering habits, and also his love of poli- 
tics. He was early taught to read, and was set when quite 
young to read the Bible, his parents striving, though without 
success, to implant in him their own strong Calvinistic views. 
He took more readily to his father's politics, and in after life 
declared that he could distinctly remember standing by his 
father's side, when only five years old, listening to a political 
conversation, and that he remembered hearing his father say, 
when he was only nine years old, that the best government is 
that "which allows to each individual the largest liberty com- 
patible with order and tranquillity, and that improvements in 
political science consist in throwing off needless restraints." 
He was fond of reading, and history and metaphysics were his 
favorites. By the time he was thirteen he had read them with 
such industry as seriously to impair his health. 

In 1795 Patrick Calhoun died, leaving his widow with but a 
small property for the support of herself and her children. 
Young Calhoun continued to reside with his widowed mother, 
his life being that of a farmer's boy of the middle class. Though 
he was very anxious to obtain an education, he was resolved to 
make no effort to do so, until he was in a position to pursue 
his studies without impairing his mother's comfort by the ex- 
pense she would be subjected to in order to send him to school. 
He spent the next five years on the farm, working hard and 
giving a good part of his leisure time to hunting and fishing. 
In the spring of 1800, his eldest brother, who held a situation in 
a mercantile house in Charleston, came home on a visit. He 

^Famous Americans of Recent Times. Pp. 1 15, 118. 



544 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

was struck with the inteUigence of his younger brother, and 
urged him to prepare himself for the study of the law. Young 
Calhoun consented to to do this, but not until he had arranged 
with his mother and brother for the means of pursuing his 
studies for seven years. He said he would be content with no 
half-way preparation — that he preferred to pass his life as a 
plain planter rather than a half-educated professional man. 

His only sister had married Dr. Waddell, a Presbyterian 
clergyman, who taught an academy in Columbia County, 
Georgia, a school long considered the best in the South. It 
was decided that John should enter this school and prepare 
himself for college. He entered Dr. Waddell's Academy in 
June, 1800, and applied himself with such diligence to his 
studies, that in the fall of 1802 he was able to enter the Junior 
Class at Yale College. Yale was then a stronghold of Feder- 
alism, and Patrick Calhoun's son had an excellent opportunity 
of learning the other side of the political questions of the day, 
and of imbibing new ideas on the subject. He was a close 
student, and among his other studies cultivated the art of 
extempore speaking. In his Senior year he was one of a class 
of seventy, and of this number only two or three besides him- 
self were Republican in their views. At one of his recitations. 
Dr. Dwight, the distinguished President of the College, asked 
him, "What is the legitimate source of power ?" " The peo- 
ple," at once answered young Calhoun. Dr. Dwight denied 
the truth of this answer, and the hour that should have been 
given to the recitation was passed in an argument upon this 
question between the professor and his pupil. Dr. Dwight was 
so much impressed with the ability displayed by Calhoun that 
he declared to a friend that the young man possessed talent 
enough to be President of the United States, and would doubt- 
less attain that eminence in due time. 

Mr. Calhoun graduated at Yale in 1804, and spent the next 
eighteen months in study at the law school at Litchfield, Con- 
necticut, then the only institution of the kind in the country. 
He is said to have studied hard and to have acquired the repu- 
tation of an excellent debater at this school, and was noted as 
a young man of good moral character and pure habits. In 
1806, he returned to South Carolina, and after continuing his 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 545 

studies in a law office at Charleston, returned to his home in 
Abbeville District, and completed his preparation for the bar, 
to which he was admitted in 1807. 

In June, 1807, shortly before he had completed his legal 
studies, occurred the outrage upon the frigate Chesapeake by 
the British frigate Leopard. It aroused a storm of indignation 
in all parts of the country, and especially in the South. A 
meeting was held at Abbeville to denounce the outrage, and 
to urge the Government to take measures to uphold the national 
honor. Mr. Calhoun drew up the resolutions on this occasion, 
and supported them in a brilliant speech. He made such a 
happy impression upon his neighbors that he was nominated 
and elected to the Legislature of the State. He was a bril- 
liant and engaging young man, grave, dignified, and earnest, 
and his manner was marked, as it was through life, with a 
winning courtesy that was irresistible. He served two sessions 
in the Legislature, in which he took a leading position. In 
national affairs he gave his hearty sympathy to the policy of 
Mr. Jefferson, and supported Mr. Madison for the Presidency. 
The intervals between the sessions of the Legislature he de- 
voted to the practice of law at Abbeville. He was very popu- 
lar, and gave such satisfaction to the people of his district that 
in the fall of 18 10 he was elected to Congress from the Abbe- 
ville District. 

In May, i8i i, Mr. Calhoun married his second cousin, Flor- 
ide Calhoun, by whom he obtained considerable property. 
Soon after his marriage he removed from the old homestead to 
Bath, on the Savannah River, a few miles distant. 

In November, i8i i, Mr. Calhoun took his seat in the Twelfth 
Congress, and was appointed by Mr. Clay, the Speaker, a mem- 
ber of the Committee of Foreign Affairs. He had now, at the 
age of twenty-nine, fairly entered upon his political life. He 
soon took a prominent position in Congress, and before the 
close of the session was regarded as one of the leading mem- 
bers from the South. He was known to be in ardent sympathy 
with the war party, and for this reason was appointed on the 
Committee of Foreign Affairs by Mr. Clay. He is believed to 
have prepared the report of this Committee on the relations of 
the United States with Great Britain, which indicated the deter- 
35 



54^ AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

mi nation of the majority in Congress to go to war with Eng- 
land. The Chairman of the Committee withdrew about this 
time, and Mr. Calhoun succeeded to his place. In this capacity 
he reported the bill for the Sixty Days' Embargo, gave a vig- 
orous support to President Madison's war message, and reported 
the bill declaring war between the United States and Great 
Britain. The speeches by which he supported these measures 
were able and brilliant, and placed him next to Mr Clay in the 
advocacy of the war. He defended President Madison's course 
in proceeding with the war in spite of the withdrawal of the 
British Orders in Council, and declared that the refusal of Great 
Britain to relinquish her claim to the right to impress Ameri- 
can seamen was a sufficient justification of the war. He also 
urged a liberal increase of the navy. Throughout the war he 
gave an efficient support to the Administration, and urged that 
every resource of the country should be drawn upon to carry 
the contest through to a successful issue. 

Just before the close of the war a bill was introduced into 
the House to charter a new National Bank. Mr. Calhoun op- 
posed it on the ground that the bank was not obliged to redeem 
its notes in specie. He declared that if news of the close of 
the war should arrive that day, the bill would not receive fifteen 
votes. News of the treaty of peace did unexpectedly arrive 
that very day, and the next day the Bank bill was overwhelm- 
ingly defeated, receiving about as many votes as Mr. Calhoun 
had predicted. This instance of political sagacity won him 
much credit. 

In the Fourteenth Congress the proposition for a National 
Bank was revived, and Mr. Calhoun reported the bill charter- 
ing the Bank of the United States of i8i6, and carried it 
through the House. 

The Tariff of 1816 received Mr. Calhoun's unqualified sup- 
port, as he was at this time a firm believer in and an ardent 
advocate of protection to the infant manufactures of the country 
that had sprung up during the war. He was mainly instru- 
mental in carrying the Tariff through the House. 

Mr. Madison, in his annual message, recommended to Con- 
gress the construction of a system of roads and canals by the 
General Government. The need of rapid and easy communi- 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 547 

cation between the distant parts of the country had been so 
keenly felt during the war that the President declared that 
Congress could engage in no more " wise and patriotic consid- 
eration" than the discussion of a plan to supply this great want 
of the nation. Mr. Calhoun took up the scheme with enthu- 
siasm, and at the next session of Congress reported a bill 
appropriating a million and a half dollars due the Govern- 
ment by the United States Bank, and also all dividends that 
should be declared on the stock in that Bank held by the Gov- 
ernment, as a permanent fund for internal improvements. He 
proposed that each State should be entitled to a share in the 
expenditures of this fund, in proportion to its representation in 
Congress. The bill was carried through the House and Senate 
by a close vote, and sent to the President. To the surprise 
and chagrin of Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Madison vetoed the bill, on 
the ground that Congress had no constitutional power to make 
such appropriations. 

Mr. Calhoun was one of the members who voted for the 
Compensation Bill in 1816. His course was severely denounced 
by his opponents at home, and a formidable opposition was 
organized against him. He at once took the stump, justified 
his vote, and carried his re-election by a handsome majority. 
At the next session, when the motion to repeal the Compensa- 
tion Bill was made, he opposed it with all his energy. 

With the administration of President Madison, Mr. Calhoun's 
six years in Congress came to an end. He withdrew from the 
House on the 4th of March, 18 17, and accepted the position 
of Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Monroe. He 
soon after removed his family from South Carolina to Wash- 
ington, and resided permanently at the Capitol for the next 
seven years. These years were perhaps the most peaceful and 
unclouded of his whole life. 

Immediately after the inauguration of Mr. Monroe, the House 
of Representatives resolved by a vote of 90 to 75 that Congress 
has constitutional power to appropriate money for the construc- 
tion of post roads and canals, and the improvement of the 
rivers, lakes and harbors of the country. By the same resolu- 
tion, the Secretaries of War and of the Treasury were directed 
to report to Congress, at its next session, a plan for appropria- 



548 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

tions in aid of these works. Mr. Crawford, the Secretary of 
the Treasury, was known to be opposed to the scheme, and 
its friends looked to Mr. Calhoun as their champion in the 
Cabinet. 

Mr. Calhoun found the, affairs of the War Department in a 
most disorganized condition. A vast amount of unfinished 
business had been turned over to him by his predecessor; 
every branch of the service was in confusion, and deferred 
claims to the amount of fifty million dollars were to be settled. 
The new Secretary, by a series of vigorous and able measures, 
soon restored order in the Department. A code of rules for 
the management of the business of the War office was drawn 
up by him, and put in operation. They remained in force until 
the vast increase of the Department at the outbreak of the 
Civil War compelled the substitution of a new code. The 
unsettled claims were speedily adjusted, and a law for the re- 
organization of the staff of the army was carried through Con- 
gress. In the despatch of the business of the Department Mr. 
Calhoun was prompt, punctual, energetic, firm and courteous. 
He gave great care to the instruction and drill of the army, 
secured the fortification of the coast of the United States, and 
reduced the expenses of his office to the lowest sum consistent 
with the proper discharge of the public business. He made no 
removals from his Department for political reasons. During 
the seven years he held the Secretaryship but two clerks were 
removed, and both of these for good cause. 

Shortly after the opening of Mr. Monroe's administration 
occurred the invasion of Florida, the seizure of the Spanish 
post at St. Mark's, and the execution of Arbuthnot and Am- 
brister by General Jackson. The matter was considered in a 
series of Cabinet Councils. Mr. Calhoun urged the President 
to repudiate the action of Jackson, and to arrest him and bring 
him to trial for exceeding his orders. He was the only mem- 
ber of the Cabinet, however, who took this view of the case, 
and it was resolved by the President to sustain Jackson, and 
approve his course. The discovery of Mr. Calhoun's action by 
Gen. Jackson, after the latter had become President, some years 
later, produced the quarrel between them to which we have 
referred elsewhere. 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 549 

When the Missouri Compromise Bill was submitted to the 
President for his signature, he requested the advice of his 
Cabinet upon the subject. Mr. Calhoun advised him to sign 
the bill, as he regarded it as a Constitutional measure, inas- 
much as, he said. Congress has power to prohibit slavery in 
the Territories. He was of the opinion, however, that such 
prohibition would be bi|iding upon the Territories only while 
they remained such, and would have no authority over them 
after their entrance into the Union as States. 

Mr. Calhoun was prominent among the distinguished men 
spoken of at this time as Mr. Monroe's successor in the Presi- 
dency. His ability as Secretary of War, was conceded on all 
sides, and he was regarded, especially by the powerful State of 
Pennsylvania, as a statesman of broad, national views, and free 
from sectional prejudices. As the contest deepened, however, 
his friends deemed it most prudent not to risk his future pros- 
pects by a nomination for the Presidency. He was therefore 
nominated for the Vice-Presidency, and Avas chosen by a hand- 
some majority in the elections of 1824. The contest for the 
Presidency was thrown into the House of Representatives, and 
resulted in the choice of Mr. Adams in the spring of 1825. 

In March, 1825, Mr. Calhoun entered upon his new duties 
as Vice-President of the United States. Previous to his with- 
drawal from the War Department he removed his family to 
South Carolina, and established them at Fort Hill, in Pendle- 
ton, now Pickens District, an estate which Mrs. Calhoun had 
inherited from her mother. He continued to reside there for 
the remainder of his life. 

Mr. Calhoun was again nominated for the Vice-Presidency 
on the ticket with General Jackson in 1828, and was elected. 
During his first term he took no part in the political struggles 
of the times, but his participation in politics after his re-election 
was more active. In the twelve years that had elapsed since 
the passage of the Tariff of 1816, the position of the sections 
with reference to the question of Protection had changed. 
The Northern States, whose capital was now invested in manu- 
factures, were in favor of a Protective Tariff; the South, whose 
interests, as an agricultural section, demanded Free Trade, 
opposed the Tariff. Mr. Calhoun had come to hold the South- 



550 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ern view of the matter, and in 1828 was as much opposed to 
the Protective system as he had formerly been in favor of it. 
He began to manifest this difference of sentiment in 1824, and 
his political opponents taunted him with changing his views 
from interested motives ; he himself declared that his change 
was sincere, and the result of his twelve years of deeper study 
ol the subject. Be this as it may, the year 1824 saw him a 
fiery opponent of the Protective system, and in 1828 he was the 
recognized leader of the Free Trade party of the South. 

Mr. Calhoun was thoroughly distrustful of General Jackson's 
willingness to oppose the Protective policy, and saw that with 
the Administration in sympathy with that policy the South 
would have no means of escaping its evils. He therefore began 
to look about him for a remedy, and at length hit upon one in 
the sovereignty of the States. He declared that the several 
States had each the right to prevent the execution of, within its 
own limits, or to nullify, any law of Congress it might deem 
unconstitutional. Here, he imagined, lay the remedy for the 
Tariff — in its nullification within their hmits by the Southern 
States. Had he been as deep a student of the Constitution as 
his admirers have claimed, Mr. Calhoun would have seen at a 
glance that this singular doctrine was utterly incompatible with 
any sound view of that instrument, and must simply result in 
the destruction of the Constitution and the overthrow of the 
Union. Mr. Calhoun, however, was like his father in the 
tenacity with which he clung to his opinions. Having thought 
out a proposition, and having arrived at a conclusion satisfac- 
tory to himself, he was convinced that he was absolutely and 
unqualifiedly right, and could not possibly be wrong, and no 
force of reasoning could drive him from his conclusion. He 
was a man sufificient unto himself in all things ; and yet an 
honest man, sincerely desiring his country's good. His coun- 
try, however, was, first of all, and in the highest sense, the 
State of South Carolina, next the Southern States, and last of 
all the Union. He never learned to take a broad, national view 
of public affairs. When the interests of his State and the 
Union coincided, he was for the Union. When they differed, 
he regarded his first duty as due to his State. 

In the summer of 1828, Mr. Calhoun embodied his nuUifica- 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 55 1 

tion doctrines in an elaborate paper, which he placed in the 
hands of a committee of the South CaroHna Legislature. This 
document was reported with some modifications to the Legis- 
lature, and though it was never formally adopted, was published 
by order of that body, and extensively circulated, and became 
generally known as "The South Carolina Exposition." The lead- 
ing assertions of this exposition are thus aptly summed up: " i. 
Every duty imposed for protection is a violation of the Con- 
stitution, which empowers Congress to impose taxes for rev- 
enue only. 2. The whole burden of the protective system is 
borne by agriculture and commerce. 3. The whole of the 
advantages of protection accrue to the manufacturing States. 
4. In other words, the-South, the South-west, and two or three 
commercial cities, support the Government, and pour a stream 
of treasure into the coffers of the manufacturers. 5. The re- 
sult must soon be, that the people of South Carolina will have 
either to abandon the culture of rice and cotton, and remove 
to some other country, or else to become a manufacturing com- 
munity, which would only be ruin in another form." The 
remedy proposed by the Exposition was nullification. The 
State of South Carolina was, after giving due warning to the 
General Government, to declare the protective acts "null and 
void," and then if Congress refused to repeal them, to prevent 
their execution within her limits. 

We have stated our belief in Mr. Calhoun's sincerit}^ in ac- 
cepting the doctrines enunciated in this Exposition. He was 
guilty of a gross inconsistency, however, which he has never 
satisfactorily explained, and which admits of but one explana- 
tion, namely, his ambition to be President. While the cham- 
pion of the Free Trade policy, and willing to go to the extent 
of destroying the Union in its vindication, he was in the Presi- 
dential campaign of 1828, the energetic supporter of General 
Jackson, zvho was fully committed to the policy of Protection. 

The South Carolina Exposition did not attract much atten- 
tion at the time of its publication. Its doctrines obtained a 
wider celebrity when repeated by Mr. Hayne in the Senate of 
the United States in his speech on Senator Foote's resolution. 
Mr. Webster, in his famous reply, though answering him, struck 
over his head sharply at Mr. Calhoun, who was in the chair of 



552 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the Senate, and whom he supposed to be the father of the 
obnoxious doctrines. 

In consequence of this temporary failure of the Exposition, 
Mr. Calhoun's responsibility for the nullification doctrine was 
not generally known, and it was seriously proposed by some 
of the leaders of the Democratic party to drop General Jackson 
at the end of his first term and nominate Calhoun as his suc- 
cessor. This plan coming to the knowledge of General Jack- 
son, was deeply resented by him, and a coldness ensued between 
the President and Vice-President. A little later the President 
learned the part taken by Mr. Calhoun in Mr. Monroe's Cabi- 
net, with reference to his invasion of Florida. He had been 
ignorant of this until now, but at once gave way to furious 
anger against Calhoun, and the coldness between them deep- 
ened into a bitter quarrel. 

Mr. Calhoun now gave his aid to the old opposition to the 
Administration, led by Daniel Webster and Henry Clay, and 
succeeded in defeating Martin Van Buren's nomination to be 
Minister to England. General Jackson thereupon succeeded 
in procuring Van Buren's nomination as Vice President, on 
the ticket with himself This triumph made it clear to Mr. 
Calhoun that he had no hope of becoming Gen. Jackson's suc- 
cessor at the end of his second term, and that that honor was 
destined for Mr. Van Buren. Although his term of office had 
not yet expired, he at once resigned the Vice Presidency, and 
was about the same time elected by the Legislature of South 
Carolina to the Federal Senate, in the place of Mr. Hayne, 
who had just been chosen Governor of the State. 

Mr. Calhoun returned to the Senate in 1832. He took his 
seat under peculiar circumstances. The Tariff of 1832 had 
been passed, and the Legislature of South Carolina, having 
resolved to apply the nullification remedy, was passing laws to 
cany it into effect. Mr. Calhoun was the inspiring source of 
the acts of South Carolina, and came back to the Senate with 
the full determination to support his State against the General 
Government. We have already related the history of the Nul- 
lification excitement, and have shown the course of the General 
Government and of South Carolina, and need not repeat the 
story here. When Congress, in response to the President's 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN, 553 

appeal for additional legislation to enable him to execute the 
laws, passed the measure known as the " Force Bill," Mr. Cal- 
houn warmly opposed it, but without success. He accepted 
and voted for Mr. Clay's compromise as a settlement of the 
trouble, in preference to the administration bill for the imme- 
diate reduction of the Tariff to a revenue standard. He was 
human enough to be unwilling that the President, whom he 
hated, should have the glory of giving peace to the country. 
It cost him a bitter struggle to accept this settlement, which 
consigned him to a lower place than he had usually held in the 
public estimation. He appears to have recognized the fact that 
his hopes of obtaining the Presidency, which he greatly desired, 
must be forever laid aside. His cup was full when he reflected 
that he must give way to Martin Van Buren, who, of all men, 
he despised most cordially. He still remained the chief of the 
extreme Southern party, but his influence with the North and 
even with the Conservative class of the South was at an end. 
From this time there was nothing national about him ; he was 
the leader of a section. He had formulated his system, and 
henceforth was incapable of learning anything new.^ 

1 Miss Martineau, who met and conversed with him about this time, thus speaks 
of him in her "Retrospect of Western Travel:" 

" Mr. Calhoun, the cast-iron man, who looks as if he had never been bom and 
could never be extinguished, would come in to keep our understandings on a pain- 
ful stretch for a short while, and leave us to take to pieces his close, rapid, theoret- 
ical, illustrated talk, and see what we could make of it. * * * His speech abounds 
in figures, truly illustrative, if that which they illustrate were true also. But his 
theories of government (almost the only subject upon which his thoughts are 
employed), the squarest and compactest that ever were made, are composed out of 
limited elements, and are not, therefore, likely to stand service very well. It is at 
first extremely interesting to hear Mr. Calhoun talk; and there is a never-failing 
evidence of power in all that he says and does, which commands intellectual rever- 
ence ; but the admiration is too soon turned into regret, into absolute melancholy. 
It is impossible to resist the conviction that all this force can be at best but useless, 
and is but too likely to be very mischievous. His mind has long lost all power of 
communicating with any other. I know of no man who lives in such utter intel- 
lectual solitude. He meets men and harangues by the fii'eside as in the Senate; 
he is wrought like a piece of machinery, set going vehemently by a weight, and 
stops while you answer ; he either passes by what you say, or twists it into a suita- 
bility with what is in his head, and begins to lecture again. Of course, a mind 
like this can have little influence in the Senate, except by virtue, perpetually wear 
ing out, of what it did in its less eccentric days ; but its influence at home is to be 



554 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Mr. Calhoun joined with Clay and Webster in denouncing 
the President for the removal of the deposits from the United 
States Bank, and voted for the resolutions of censure. 

The Bank controversy led to the formation of a new party, 
known as Whigs. Mr. Calhoun, although strictly speaking 
the chief of the nullification party, for the next four years acted 
with the Whigs in national questions. He declined to be con- 
sidered a Whig, however. 

The Slavery agitation had never been quieted, and the anti- 
slavery party had for some time been using the United States 
mails to circulate their publications in the Southern States. In 
his last annual message. President Jackson urged upon Con- 
gress the necessity of passing laws excluding such publications 
from the mails. The administration party in the Senate wished 
to refer this part of the message to the Post-Office Com- 
mittee ; but Mr. Calhoun obtained its reference to a special 
committee, of which he was made chairman. This committee 
reported a bill subjecting to severe pains and penalties any 
Postmaster who should knowingly receive and put into the 
mails any publication or picture touching the abolition of 
Slavery, to go into any State or Territory in which the circula- 
tion of such publication or picture should be forbidden by the 
local laws. This preposterous measure was rejected by a vote 
of 25 to 19. 

Mr. Calhoun opposed the reception of the petitions that 
were constantly being presented to Congress for the abolition 

dreaded. There is no hope that an intellect so cast in narrow theories will accom- 
modate itself to varying circumstances; and there is every danger that it will 
break up all that it can in order to remould the materials in its own way. Mr. 
Calhoun is as full as ever of his nullification doctrines ; and those who know the 
force that is in him, and his utter incapacity of modification by other minds (after 
having gone through as remarkable a revolution of political opinion as perhaps any 
man ever experienced), will no more expect repose and self- retention from him 
than from a volcano in full force. Relaxation is no longer in the power of his 
will. I never saw any one who so completely gave me the idea of possession. 
Half an hour's conversation with him is enough to make a necessitarian of any- 
body. Accordingly, he is more complained of than blamed by his enemies. His 
moments of softness by his family, when recurring to old college days, are hailed 
by all as a relief to the vehement working of the intellectual machine — a relief 
equally to himself and others. These moments are as touching to the observer as 
tears on the face of a soldier." 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 555 

of slavery in the District of Columbia and in the Territories. 
He declared that as Congress had no power over the subject, 
the petitions should not be heard ; the Senate decided, how- 
ever, to receive the petitions and reject their prayers. In the 
latter part of 1836, Mr. Calhoun renewed his attack upon the 
anti-slavery petitions. He insisted that the abolitionists must 
be silenced by prompt and efficient measures, or the Union 
could not last. In this speech he declared slavery to be an 
unmixed good morally and economically, and pronounced it 
the only basis on which free political institutions could be 
reared. 

As deeply as he detested Mr. Van Buren, Mr. Calhoun ap- 
proved his sub-Treasury scheme, and gave it his support. The 
Whigs, who could not afford to lose his vote at this critical 
time, resented his defection. As he was not a member of the 
Whig party, however, they had no good ground for their anger. 
Henry Clay, in his speech on the Independent Treasury, at- 
tacked Mr. Calhoun with all the invective he was master of, 
and taunted him with deserting his principles. This led to a 
sharp debate, the speeches of which, apart from their rhetorical 
ability, are of great value for the insight they give us into the 
secret history of the Compromise of 1833. Mr. Calhoun re- 
garded his as the vindication of his public life. 

"Previous to this debate," says Mr. Hildreth, "he had been 
involved in another, in which he had almost the whole Senate 
upon him. It was equally the policy of both the political par- 
ties to keep the slavery question out of Congress, as a subject 
upon which it was only difficult to speak or act without offend- 
ing either the North or the South. With this intent both 
Houses had adopted rules, the result of which was that all 
petitions and memorials on that subject were at once laid 
upon the table without being read or debated. The Northern 
Whigs had indeed voted against this, contending that all peti- 
tions ought to be received and referred to their appropriate 
committees, but still they were as well satisfied as their op- 
ponents to avoid or escape debate. Mr. Calhoun did not sym- 
pathize in this feeling. Unlike the leaders of the two great 
political parties, he had no friends to be placed in an awkward 
predicament, nor any apprehensions of compromising himself 



556 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

He had already declared his conviction that slavery was a 
positive political and social good. It appears by a letter of 
his, written in 1847, to a member of the Alabama Legislature, 
and published since his death, that he was from the beginning 
in favor of ' forcing,' as he expressed it, the slavery issue on 
the North, believing that delay was dangerous, and that the 
South was relatively stronger, both morally and politically, 
than she would ever be again. 

"Not discouraged by the failure of the South, and even of 
his own State, of which he complained in the letter above re- 
ferred to, to back up sufficiently his former attempts, he had 
offered a series of resolutions having the same object in view. 
The chief debate was on the fifth, which declared that the in- 
termeddling of any State or States, or their citizens, to abolish 
slavery in the Territories or the District of Columbia, on the 
ground that it was immoral or sinful, or the passage of any 
measure by Congress with that view, would be a direct and 
dangerous attack on the institutions of all the slave-holding 
States. Mr. Clay moved as a substitute two resolutions, one 
applying to the District, the other to the Territories. These 
resolutions omitted all reference to the moral or religious 
character of slavery. For 'intermeddling' they substituted 
'interference.' The abolition of slavery in the District of Co- 
lumbia was pronounced a violation of the faith implied by the 
cessions of Maryland and Virginia, and its abolition in any 
Territory, a breach of good faith towards the inhabitants who 
had been permitted to settle with their slaves therein, and in 
both cases a ground of just alarm to the slave-holding States, 
tending to disturb and endanger the Union. 

" Mr. Calhoun, though not favoring this amendment, per- 
ceiving that the Senate would go no further, voted for it. In 
the course of this debate, he stated, in reference to the Mis- 
souri Compromise, that when it was made he was in favor of 
it, but that he had since been led entirely to change his opinion, 
and to regard it as a dangerous measure. He had condemned 
Mr. Randolph's opposition to it as too uncompromising, too 
impracticable, but was now fully satisfied that if the Southern 
members had acted and voted in the spirit of Mr. Randolph, 
abolition mieht have been crushed forever in the bud. He 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 557 

rejected, with scorn, Mr. Buchanan's ofifer to support the 
amended resolutions, with a view to soothe and tranquihze the 
feehngs of the South. The South was calm and collected, and 
could take care of herself He was anxious — and such was 
his object in offering these resolutions — to present some com- 
mon ground on which the reflective and patriotic of every 
quarter of the Union might rally to arrest the approaching 
catastrophe — an object in which the North was at least as much 
interested as the South. To the new charges made against 
him by Mr. Clay, of being a partisan of the Administration, 
he indignantly replied that he was no partisan of any man or 
any Administration. He supported the Constitutional Trea- 
sury because it accorded with his principles and views of 
policy; and he stood prepared to oppose or support, on the 
same ground, other measures which the Administration might 
propose. It was, he said, his fortune to stand in the Senate 
alone, with no other guide but God and his conscience. He 
sought neither office nor popular favor. He also denied ex- 
plicitly any connection with or knowledge of the existence of 
any party aiming at disunion. On the contrary, he was seek- 
ing to preserve the Union, by opposing injustice and oppres- 
sion against the weakest and most exposed section of it, in 
which it was his lot to be cast." 

Mr. Calhoun supported Mr. Van Buren for reelection to the 
Presidency in 1840. The success of General Harrison, and 
the entrance of the Whig party into power in 1841, threw 
Calhoun once more into the opposition. Shortly after the in- 
auguration of General Harrison, Mr. Calhoun renewed his 
connection with the Democratic party, and attended the formal 
caucus of that party, the first time he had done so since his 
breach with President Jackson. 

The veto of the Bank Bill by President Tyler was bitterly 
resented, as we have stated, by the Whigs, and Henry Clay, in 
his speech on the subject, denounced it as an abuse of the veto 
power. Mr. Calhoun, in an elaborate speech, defended the 
President's course and justified his use of the veto power. 
Mr. Calhoun opposed the Tariff of 1842, and denounced it as 
a violation of the principles of the Tariff Compromise of 1833, 
as indeed it was. He supported the Treaty of Washington^ 



558 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

negotiated by Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton, between 
the United States and Great Britain, and declared his prefer- 
ence for a peaceful settlement of disputes between nations. 
He opposed the occupation of Oregon because he believed it 
would lead to a quarrel with Great Britain, and he was con- 
vinced that the rapid westward movement of our population 
would give us Oregon in due time without fighting for it. 

On the 4th of March, 1843, Mr. Calhoun's Senatorial term 
expired, and he retired from the Senate. His great opponents 
were no longer members of that body. Webster was in the 
Cabinet and Clay was in private life. 

In ^March, 1844, upon the death of Judge Upshur, Mr. Cal- 
houn was appointed Secretary of State by President Tyler. 
In this capacity he conducted the negotiations which led to 
the annexation of Texas. He was in reality the father of the 
annexation scheme, and was resolute in his determination to 
carry it through to success. He was anxious to win for the 
South the great accession of power which the addition of 
Texas to the Union would give it, and worked with more than 
his customary great energy to secure the success of his plans. 
He was the author of nearly every step by which the annexa- 
tion was accomplished, and the country owes him its thanks 
for this valuable addition to the area and power of the Republic. 

Mr. Calhoun was offered the English mission by President 
Polk, but declined it. He was immediately returned to the 
Senate, one of the Senators from South Carolina resigning to 
make a vacancy for him. He resumed his seat in December, 
1845. He gave his assistance to the peaceable settlement of 
the Oregon question, and opposed the Mexican War as unne- 
cessary and unjust. He declared his utter disapproval of the 
policy of conquering or absorbing any part of the Mexican 
territory. He opposed the Wilmot Proviso with all the 
strength of his great intellect, and in this struggle was the able 
leader of the South. He took the ground that Congress had 
no right to interfere with Slavery in any State or Territory of 
the Union, and that any law of Congress for that purpose 
would be unconstitutional and subversive of the Union. He 
declared, however, that, for the sake of peace, he was willing 
to extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific. 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUX. ^^g 

In a speech on the 27th of June, 1848, upona bill to organized 
Oregon Territory, Mr. Calhoun warmly opposed the extension 
to that bill of the anti-slavery provision of the Ordinance of 1787 
He declared that the Constitution of its own force established 
slaveiy in the Territories, and that Congress had no power to in- 
terfere with it. The anti-slavery clause of the bill was supported 
by Senators Benton, of Missouri, and Houston, of Texas who 
voted for it. Mr. Calhoun thereupon denounced them in the 
Senate as traitors to the South. 

He took little interest in the Presidential campaign of 1848 
but supported General Cass for the Presidency. In the brief 
session of Congress which followed the Presidential election 
Mr. Calhoun made energetic efforts to unite the Southern 
members in opposition to the North upon the basis of slaverv 
Several meetings of the Southern members were held but he 
was not able to accomplish anything. In the debates' on the 
organization of the Territories of Utah and New Mexico he 
maintained his doctrine that the Constitution established and 
protected slavery in the Territories. 

He had long been a sufferer from a pulmonary complaint 
and to this was now added an affection of the heart. His health 
failed rapidly, and became so feeble that he was not able to 
take an active part in the debates upon the Compromise of 
1850. On the 4th of March, 1850, an elaborate speech which 
he had prepared, but was not well enough to deliver, was read 
for him in the Senate by Mr. Mason, of Virginia. It was his 
last important utterance. In it he declared that the slavery 
agitation, if not checked, would result before long in the dis- 
solution of the Union, and that the Union could be preserved 
only by maintaining an equilibrium bet^veen the North and the 
South in the General Government. He did not elaborate this 
Idea in his speech, but it appears from his writings, published 
since his death, that he favored an amendment to the Consti- 
tution placing the Executive power in the hands of t^vo Presi- 
dents, one from the North and one from the South whose 
assent should be necessaiy to all acts of Congress before they 
could become laws. He declared in his speech that the equili- 
brium could be preserved only by making the number of the 
slave States equal to that of the free States, that their power in 
the Senate might be equal. • 



560 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

The speech attracted great attention, and was answered by 
Webster and Cass. In some brief rephes to Mr. Cass, on the 
13th of March, Mr. Calhoun spoke for the last time in the 
Senate. He fell back in his seat exhausted, at the close of his 
remarks, and was carried to his lodgings. He never left his 
bed again, and died on the 31st of March, 1850, at the age of 
sixty-eight. His remains were conveyed to South Carolina 
and interred there. 

Daniel Webster, who had been his ablest antagonist in the 
Senate, and whose views of our system of Government were 
the most widely opposite to those of Mr. Calhoun, said of him, 
upon the announcement of his death in the Senate: "The 
eloquence of Mr. Calhoun was a part of his intellectual char- 
acter. It grew out of the qualities of his mind. It was plain, 
strong, wise, condensed, concise ; sometimes impassioned, al- 
ways severe. Rejecting ornament, not often seeking illustra- 
tion, his power consisted in the plainness of his propositions, 
the closeness of his logic, and the earnestness and energy of 
his manner. Those are the qualities, as I think, which have 
enabled him, through such a long course of years, to speak 
often, and yet always to command attention. His demeanor, 
as a Senator, is known to all — is appreciated and venerated by 
us all. No man was more respectful to others, no man car- 
ried himself with greater decorum, no man with superior dig- 
nity. ^ I think there is not one of us but felt, when he last 
addressed the Senate, his form still erect, with a voice by no 
means indicating such a degree of physical weakness as did in 
fact possess him, with clear tones, and an impressive manner, I 
may say an imposing manner, who did not feel that we might 

1 "At every period of his life," says Mr. Parton, who can see but little good in 
him, and utterly fails to appreciate his character, " his manners, when in company 
with his inferiors in age or standing, were extremely agreeable, even fascinatin^r. 
We have heard a well-known editor, who began life as a 'page' in the Senaie 
Chamber, say that there was no Senator whom the pages took such delight in serv- 
ing as Mr. Calhoun. 'Why?' 'Because he was so democratic' ' How demo 
cratic ?' ' He was as polite to a page as to the President of the Senate, and as con • 
siderate of his feelings.' We have heard another member of the press, whose 
first employment was to report the speeches of Clay, Webster, and Calhoun, bear 
similar testimony to the frank, engaging courtesy of his intercourse with the corps 
of reporters." 



JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN. 56 1 

imagine that we saw before us a Senator of Rome, when Rome 
survived. I have not, in pubhc nor in private life, known a 
more assiduous person in the discharge of his duty. He 
seemed to have no recreation but the pleasure of conversation 
with his friends. Out of the chambers of Congress he was 
either devoting himself to the acquisition of knowledge per- 
taining to the immediate subject of the duty before him, or 
else he was indulging in those social interviews in which he so 
much delighted. * * * He had the basis, the indisputable 
basis, of all high character, unspotted integrity, and honor un- 
impeached. If he had aspirations, they were high, honorable 
and noble; nothing grovelling, low, or meanly selfish came 
near his head or his heart. Firm in his purposes, patriotic and 
honest, as I am sure he was in the principles he espoused and 
in the measures he defended, I do not believe that, aside from 
his large regard for that species of distinction that conducted 
him to eminent stations for the benefit of the Republic, he had 
a selfish motive or a selfish feeling." 
36 




STEPHEN DECATUR. 

THE grandfather of Commodore Decatur was a French 
Huguenot, who emigrated from La Rochelle, and settled in 
.Rhode Island. He married a lady of that colony, by whom he 
had several children. Stephen Decatur, his son, and the father 
of the subject of this memoir, was born at Newport, in 175 i, 
and was bred a sailor. Soon after becoming of age he re- 
moved to Philadelphia, where he obtained the command of a 
merchant vessel belonging to that port, and married a young 
lady of Irish descent, named Pine. During the Revolution he 
commanded several privateers, and captured a number of Eng- 
lish ships, winning considerable credit by these successes. After 
the war he returned to the merchant service. On the outbreak 
of hostilities with France he was commissioned by President 
Adams a captain in the Navy, and was assigned the command 
of the sloop of war Delaware, of twenty guns. He cruised 
in this vessel during the greater part of the years 1798 and 1799, 
and at different times captured the French privateers Le Croy- 
able, 14, and Marsuin, 10. In 1800, he was placed in com- 
mand o^the frigate Philadelphia, 38, at the particular request 
of the merchants that had built and presented that vessel to 
the Government. He was ordered to the Guadaloupe station, 
and given command of a squadron of 13 vessels. In 1801 he 
was honorably discharged from the service upon the reduction 
of the Navy to a peace footing. From this time until his death, 
in 1808, he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. 

Stephen Decatur, the eldest son of Commodore Decatur, 
was born on the 5th of January, 1779, on the Eastern Shore of 
Maryland, where his parents had taken refuge upon the occu- 
pation of Philadelphia by the British. After the evacuation of 
that city by the enemy. Captain Decatur returned home with 
his family, and young Stephen was brought up and educated 
in Philadelphia. 

In July, 1798, when at the age of nineteen, his father's friend 

(562) 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 563 

Commodore Barry obtained a midshipman's warrant for him, 
and he joined the frigate United States, the Commodore's flag- 
ship. In 1799 he was promoted to the grade of Lieutenant. 
He served under Commodore Barry's orders in both capacities, 
in the West Indies, during the hostihties with France. 

In 1 80 1 Decatur was ordered to the frigate Essex, Capt. 
Wm. Bainbridge, as first Heutenant. This vessel formed a part 
of the squadron sent to the Mediterranean in the spring of 1801, 
under Commodore Dale, to blockade the harbor of Tripoli. 
The squadron returned home in December, 1801, and early in 
the spring of 1802, a force of six ships of war, under Commo- 
dore Morris, was despatched to the Mediterranean to conduct 
the operations against Tripoli. Decatur went out with this 
squadron as first lieutenant of the frigate New York, Capt. 
Jas. Barron. While the vessels were lying at Malta a duel 
occurred between Midshipman Bainbridge and a British officer. 
Decatur acted, on this occasion, as Bainbridge's second. The 
English officer was killed, and the Governor of Malta de- 
manded the surrender of the parties concerned in the affair. 
It was deemed prudent for Decatur to return home to avoid 
trouble, and he was sent back to the United States in a home- 
ward-bound ship. 

Upon his arrival in the United States, Lieutenant Decatur 
was placed in command of the brig Argus, and sent back with 
her to the Mediterranean in November, 1803. He was or- 
dered, upon joining the squadron of Commodore Preble, to 
resign the command of the Argus to Lieutenant Hull, and 
take the schooner Enterprise, 12, then commanded by Hull. He 
obeyed his orders upon reaching the Mediterranean early in 
December, and, on the 23d of that month, soon after taking 
command of the Enterprise, he fell in with and captured a 
ketch, or small coasting vessel, called the Mastico, which was 
afterwards appraised, taken into the service as a tender, and 
called the Intrepid. 

In the meantime the American squadron in the Mediterra- 
nean had met with a heavy loss. The frigate Philadelphia, 
Captain Bainbridge, while engaged in chasing a vessel that was 
endeavoring to break the blockade and get into the harbor of 
Tripoli, ran on the rocks at the entrance to that harbor, on the 



564 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

31st of October, 1803, and in this helpless condition was cap- 
tured by the Tripolitans with all her officers and crew. She 
was subsequently gotten off the rocks, taken into the harbor, 
and moored under the guns of the castle and batteries of the 
town. The loss of the Philadelphia was a source of the deep- 
est mortification to the whole squadron, though all understood 
that it was the result of an accident. 

Decatur reached the rendezvous of the squadron at Syracuse 
shortly after Commodore Preble had learned the fate of the 
Philadelphia, and while he was still chafing at her loss. Some- 
what later, having been informed that the Tripolitans were 
fitting out the Philadelphia to send her to sea as a cruiser, 
Preble determined to destroy her. He mentioned his plan to 
Lieutenant Decatur, who at once asked permission to enter 
the harbor with his schooner, and make the attempt. The 
Commodore refused to allow him to do this, but promised him 
the command of the expedition when the proper time for it 
should arrive. 

The Commodore now caused the Intrepid to be prepared for 
the attempt, and placed her under the command of Lieut. De- 
catur, who was given a picked crew of sixty-two petty officers 
and seamen, taken from the Enterprise, the whole crew of 
which had volunteered, to which were added Lieuts. Lawrence, 
Bainbridge and Thorn, Midshipman McDonough and Surgeon 
Heerman, all of the Enterprise, and Midshipmen Izard, Morris, 
Laws, Davis and Rowe of the Constitution, the flagship, and 
Salvatore Catalano, the pilot of the fleet. The Intrepid was 
amply provided with combustibles, and Decatur was ordered 
to proceed with her at once to Tripoli, enter the harbor, run 
alongside the Philadelphia, board her and burn her, instead of 
trying to bring her out of the harbor. Everything being in 
readiness, he sailed from Syracuse on the afternoon of the 3d 
of February, 1804, accompanied by the Siren, 16, Lieut. Stew- 
art. Tripoli was reached on the 9th, but that night a heavy 
gale set in and lasted with great violence for six days. There 
was constant danger that the Intrepid, which was of less than 
fifty tons burthen, would founder ; but Decatur managed to keep 
her afloat, and also to keep company with the Siren. Both ves- 
sels were driven far up the Gulf of Sydra before the gale subsided. 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 565 

On the 15th of February, the gale being over, the vessels 
started on their return to Tripoli, and arrived off the harbor 
the next afternoon. Lieut. Stewart insisted upon reinforcing 
Decatur with Mr. Anderson, a midshipman, and seven men 
from the Siren, thus bringing the force on board the Intrepid 
to eighty-two souls. The Intrepid proceeded some distance in 
advance of the Siren, and soon came in sight of the town. The 
Philadelphia was seen riding at anchor about a mile from the 
entrance to the harbor, and immediately in front of the castle. 
Her guns had been replaced by the Turks, and she was in 
excellent condition for an engagement. Two corsairs, three or 
four gunboats and some galleys, were lying near her. 

The evening was beautiful and the wind fair. Decatur 
hovered off the harbor until long after dark, and at ten o'clock 
that night, February i6th, 1804, stood in for the harbor and 
entered it through the eastern channel, and made towards the 
frigate. The new moon shed a faint glimmer over the harbor, 
concealing the character of the ketch, but giving light enough 
to the Americans to see what they were about. The town and 
the harbor were silent, only the lookouts on the vessels and at 
the batteries on shore being awake. The wind died down, 
and the Intrepid, with scarcely breeze enough to force her 
along, approached the frigate slowly and silently. 

Decatur had arranged his plan with great care. A party of 
fifteen men was to remain in the Intrepid, to guard her, but the 
remainder were to board the frigate as soon as she should be 
reached. The Turks were to be driven from the spar and gun- 
decks before anything else was to be attended to. This ac- 
complished, Decatur, with Messrs. Izard and Rowe and fifteen 
men, were to keep possession of the spar-deck and prevent any 
force from the shore from coming aboard, while the remainder 
of the men were to be divided into three parties, under Messrs. 
Lawrence, Bainbridge and Morris, respectively, and were to fire 
the ship in three designated places. The men were instructed 
to trust to their cutlasses, and not to use firearms except in the 
last extremity. 

As the Intrepid passed into the harbor all but ten or twelve 
of her people lay flat on the deck, to avoid being seen from the 
frigate or the shore. Mr. Decatur and Mr. Catalano, the pilot. 



566 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

went forward, the latter to act as interpreter, and the quarter- 
master in charge of the helm was ordered to make for the 
bows of the frigate and lay the ketch aboard of her at that 
point, as such a movement would keep the little vessel com- 
paratively out of the range of the ship's guns. 

As the Intrepid approached the Philadelphia she was hailed 
from the latter, and ordered to anchor near her. The pilot 
answered that the ketch was a Maltese trader, and that as she 
had lost her anchors in the recent gale, in which she had suf- 
fered heavily, it was impossible to obey the order from the 
frigate. He therefore asked permission to make fast to the 
frigate and ride by her until morning. To gain time, Decatur 
told the pilot to describe the supposed cargo of the ketch to 
the people in the frigate, and while this conversation was going 
on the little vessel slowly neared her antagonist at the very 
point desired. Suddenly, however, the wind shifted, and 
brought the Intrepid directly under the frigate's broadside, 
about forty yards distant, where she lay exposed to nearly all 
the larboard guns of the Philadelphia. The situation was 
critical, but not a sound or a movement on board the Intrepid, 
which slowly drifted astern of the frigate, betrayed her character. 
So perfect was the discipline that even after the Turks had 
discovered the ruse not an officer or man rose from the deck, 
or moved from his position, until ordered to do so. 

The enemy, however, had, as yet, no suspicion of the true 
character of the ketch. They were so thoroughly deceived 
that they allowed a boat to leave the Intrepid and make a line 
fast to the frigate's fore-chains, and even sent one of their own 
boats with a line from the after part of the ship. They were 
met by the Intrepid's boat, which took the line from them and 
passed it into the ketch. These lines were given to the men 
on the deck, who, without rising, brought the ketch rapidly 
alongside the frigate. When within a few yards of the 
Philadelphia, the anchors of the ketch were discovered by the 
Turks, who became alarmed, and ordered her to keep off; but 
a vigorous pull by the men on the deck brought her along- 
side the frigate, to which she was instantly made fast. Imme- 
diately the Turks raised the cry of " Amerikanos," and the 
order was given to the people of the Intrepid to board. 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 56/ 

Mr. Decatur and Messrs. Laws and Morris sprang into the 
frigate's chains at the same moment. Mr. Morris managed to 
reach the quarter deck of the Philadelphia first. The next 
moment he was joined by Decatur and Laws, at whose backs 
came the whole party of boarders. The surprise was com- 
plete, and the Turks were panic-stricken. They made scarcely 
a show of defending the spar-deck, but sprang overboard in 
all directions as soon as attacked. On the gun-deck a slight 
resistance was made, but was quickly overcome, and the Turks 
leaped through the port-holes into the water. In less than ten 
minutes the frigate was in possession of the Americans. A 
rocket was then sent up to inform the Siren, which was off the 
mouth of the harbor, of the success. 

A glance satisfied Decatur that it would be impossible to 
take the frigate out, and he prepared to burn her. Combusti- 
bles were passed up from the ketch, and while his own party 
held the spar-deck, the others hastened away to their respec- 
tive stations and lighted the fires. The flames caught instantly, 
and the ship was so dry that they spread with almost lightning 
speed. In less than twenty minutes after the order to board 
was given, the flames had made such progress that the destruc- 
tion of the frigate was sure. Decatur and his men were now 
compelled to retreat to the ketch, which, being close along- 
side, was in considerable danger. The flames scorched the 
stern window of the Intrepid, and came within a few feet of 
the ammunition of the party, which was covered only with 
a sail cloth. There was no time to lose, and as axes could not 
be had, the fasts which held the Intrepid to the frigate were 
cut with swords and cutlasses, and the little vessel was shoved 
off from her dangerous position. Just as she drifted away, 
the flames shot up through the decks of the frigate and flashed 
up the rigging, which burned like tinder. 

The Intrepid was provided with sixteen sweeps. These were 
instantly manned by the crew, and propelled by their stout arms, 
the ketch shot rapidly down the harbor. Once clear of the 
danger from the burning frigate, the men paused in their row- 
ing and gave three ringing cheers, such as only American sea- 
men can give in the hour of victory. Their shouts aroused 
the enemy from the stupor into which they had been plunged 



568 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

by the suddenness of the attack, and all the shore batteries and 
the vessels lying in the harbor opened fire upon the ketch. The 
men bent to their sweeps again, and the Intrepid went gaily 
down the harbor, the light of the burning frigate making every- 
thing as plain as in the day. The wind shifting, the frigate 
swung round, with one of her broadsides to the town, and as 
her guns, which were loaded, became heated, they went off, 
sending their shot into the town on the one side, and towards 
the English fort on the other. The batteries fired rapidly, but 
without doing any harm to the Intrepid, which continued 
swiftly on her way, her officers and crew in the highest spirits. 
Near the mouth of the harbor Decatur met the cutter and 
launch of the Siren, which Lieut. Stewart had armed and sent 
in to cover the retreat of the Intrepid, the brig herself being 
anchored about three miles from the shore, according to the 
original agreement. The ketch and the boats then left the 
harbor, and when fairly at sea and out of danger, Decatur went 
on board the Siren to report his success to Lieut. Stewart. The 
Americans had one man wounded in this brilliant affair. The 
loss of the Turks is unknown, but is believed to have been 
heavy. The Philadelphia was entirely destroyed. 

The Siren and Intrepid lay to for nearly an hour, when a 
strong and favorable breeze having sprung up, sail was made. 
Syracuse was reached on the 19th, and the victors were greeted 
with salutes from the American vessels in port and the Sicilian 
batteries on shore. 

The burning of the -Philadelphia was one of the most gallant 
exploits ever performed, and is cherished as one of the proudest 
traditions of the American Navy. Decatur was rewarded by 
the Government with the rank of Post Captain, all the officers 
over whom he was advanced generously assenting to his pro- 
motion. 

In the opening of 1804 Commodore Preble, having deter- 
mined to attack Tripoli, obtained the loan of six gunboats and 
two bombards from the King of Naples, who was also at war 
with Tripoli. These he formed into two divisions, and gave 
the command of one to Captain Decatur, and of the other to 
Lieutenant Somers. The squadron, consisting of the frigate 
Constitution, the brig Siren, the schooners Nautilus and Vixen, 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 569 

and the gunboats, sailed from Syracuse about the last of July. 
Having reached the African coast they were prevented for 
some days by bad weather from making the attack. A favor- 
able season having set in, the Commodore, on the 3d of August, 
gave the signal for attacking the enemy's vessels and the town. 
The gunboats advanced in line, led by Decatur, and supported 
by the frigate and the other vessels, which followed close be- 
hind. 

The Tripolitan gunboats were moored along the harbor under 
the batteries of the town, and close by them lay a brig of six- 
teen and a schooner of ten guns. Decatur's plan was to close 
with the gunboats at once, and carry them by boarding. As 
his boat, which was in the advance, came within range of the 
enemy's guns, a heavy fire was opened upon it from the bat- 
teries and the gunboats. He returned the fire, and continued 
to advance until he reached the enemy's line. He at once 
grappled the boat nearest to him, and gave the order to 
board. A struggle of ten minutes ensued, and the deck was 
cleared, such of the Turks as were not killed taking refuge in 
the hold or leaping into the water. Decatur at once secured 
his prize, and placing a crew on board of her, prepared to return 
to his own line with her. 

At this moment the boat that had been commanded by his 
brother. Lieutenant James Decatur, came under his stern, and 
the men informed him that Lieut. Decatur had succeeded in 
capturing one of the enemy's gunboats, but that the Turkish 
captain, after surrendering, had treacherously shot and killed 
the Lieutenant, and had gotten off with his boat and was mak- 
ing for the harbor. 

Ordering his prize to join the squadron, Decatur, without the 
loss of a moment, pushed boldly into the enemy's line with his 
gunboat, determined to avenge his brother's death or perish in 
the attempt. He overhauled the retreating Turk, closed with 
him, and boarded him at the head of eleven men. A severe 
hand-to-hand conflict ensued on the deck of the Turkish ves- 
sel. Decatur singled out the Turkish commander, and attacked 
him furiously. The Turk defended himself with an espontoon, 
and Decatur attacked him with a cutlass. In attempting to 
cut off the head of the Turk's spear, Decatur's cutlass struck 



570 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the iron head, and broke ofif at the handle, and at the same 
moment the Turk wounded him in the right arm and breast. 
Decatur at once seized the spear, grappled with the Turk, and 
after a brief struggle threw him to the deck, falling on top of 
him. The Turk, drawing his dagger, attempted to stab his 
adversary, but Decatur caught his right arm and held it, and 
shot him with a pistol which he drew from his pocket. While 
this struggle was going on, the crews of the two gunboats 
rushed to the aid of their respective commanders, and a fierce 
conflict took place over them, so that when Decatur had freed 
himself from the Turk, he could scarcely extricate himself from 
the killed and wounded that had fallen about him. In the early 
part of this combat, Decatur was attacked in the rear by another 
Turk, who aimed a blow at him which must have been fatal 
had not an American sailor, who had been so badly wounded 
as to lose the use of both his hands, rushed in and received the 
blow intended for his commander on his own head. The gal- 
lant fellow's skull was fractured by the stroke, but he recovered, 
and was afterwards rewarded by the government with a pension. 

In twenty minutes after boarding the Turkish gunboat, De- 
catur was master of her; and though he had but four men left 
and was himself wounded, succeeded in rejoining the squadron 
with his own vessel and his second prize. The next day he 
was complimented for his gallant conduct by the Commodore 
in general orders. 

Upon the return of Commodore Preble to the United States 
in the fall of 1804, Decatur, whose commission as captain had 
arrived some time previous, took command of the Constitution, 
which was the first frigate he ever had under his orders. He 
commanded her until near the close of the war, when he was 
transferred to the frigate Congress, in which he returned home 
after the treaty of peace. Upon reaching the United States he 
was placed in charge of the Norfolk Navy Yard, and was 
engaged in superintending the construction of gunboats. 
In 1807, after the removal of Commodore Barron from the frig- 
ate Chesapeake, he was ordered to take command of that ship. 
Shortly after this he was transferred to the United States, 44, 
and was in command of this vessel when war was declared 
against Great Britain. 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 57 1 

His ship went to sea on the 21st of June, 181 2, as a part of 
the squadron of Commodore Rodgers, and remained with it 
during its fruitless summer cruise. Having returned to the 
United States, Rodgers refitted for a second cruise, and put 
to sea again early in October; but Decatur parted company 
with him at sea on the 12th of October. On the 17th the 
United States fell in with and captured the British packet 
Swallow, with a large amount of specie on board. On Sunday, 
October 25th, in latitude 90° N., and longitude 29° 30' W., 
the United States fell in with the British frigate Macedonian, 
49, one of the finest ships in the English navy. Decatur bore 
down upon the English vessel, and in a spirited action of an 
hour and a half, compelled her to strike her flag. The Mace- 
donian was considerably injured, and had thirty-six men killed 
and sixty-eight wounded out of a crew of three hundred men. 
The United States had five killed and seven wounded. 

Finding that his prize was in a condition which admitted of 
her being taken into port. Commodore Decatur discontinued 
his cruise, and convoyed the captured ship into Long Island 
Sound. Both vessels succeeded in reaching New York 
through the Hell Gate passage, and the Macedonian was re- 
fitted and converted into an American frigate during the winter. 
Decatur was received with enthusiasm, and Congress and sev- 
eral of the State Legislatures testified their approval of his gal- 
lant services by bestowing handsome presents upon him. 

In the spring of 18 14, Decatur passed through Hell Gate 
with the United States, Macedonian, and Hornet, and attempted 
to get to sea by way of Long Island Sound. Near the eastern 
end of Long Island they were met by a very superior squad- 
ron of the enemy, and were chased into the harbor of New 
London, where all three vessels were closely blockaded until 
the end of the war. After waiting for several months, Deca- 
tur, impatient of being cooped up in this way, sent a challenge 
to Sir Thomas Hardy, the commander of the blockading force, 
offering to fight two British frigates with the two under his 
command. The offer was rejected, however, and the Amer- 
ican vessels were soon after dismantled. 

Towards the close of the summer of 18 14, Decatur was or- 
dered to New York to take command of the President, 44. 



572 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The Peacock, Hornet, and a store ship were placed under his 
orders, and he was directed to get to sea, and sail for the East 
Indies, where it was thought he would be able to do consid- 
erable damage to the enemy's commerce. He was detained 
at New York through the remainder of the year, and did not 
sail from that port until the middle of January, 1815. The 
President went to sea alone, on the night of the 14th of Janu- 
ary, and in the darkness the pilots missed the channel and the 
ship struck, beating heavily on the sands for an hour and a 
half She was at length gotten off, but, although she was 
severely injured, it was impossible for her to return, and De- 
catur made sail to get off the coast before morning. He soon 
discovered that the President's sailing qualities had been ma- 
terially impaired. 

The next morning Decatur discovered four English frigates 
and a brig in pursuit of him. His own ship made but little 
progress, in consequence of her injuries, and the leading Eng- 
lish frigate, the Endymion, gained upon him rapidly. Seeing 
that he was sure to be overhauled, Decatur formed the daring 
plan of leading the Endymion away from her consorts, closing 
with her, carrying her by boarding with his whole crew, aban- 
doning or destroying the President, and escaping in his prize. 
The English commander suspected the plan, however, and 
kept his ship away. Seeing this, Decatur then tacked about, 
opened fire upon the Endymion, which was a long way in ad- 
vance of her consorts, crippled her and silenced her guns, and 
might have compelled her to surrender, had not the near ap- 
proach of the other ships rendered it imperative upon Decatur 
to resume his course if he wished to escape. 

These events had consumed the whole of the day. It was 
now half-past eight o'clock in the evening. The President con- 
tinued to run off south-east, repairing the damages she had 
sustained in the conflict with the Endymion, The delay, how- 
ever, had given the other vessels time to come up, and at 1 1 
o'clock P. M. the Pomona, 38, the Tenedos, 38, and the Majes- 
tic, 40, came within range. The Pomona and Tenedos opened 
a heavy fire upon the President, which was returned. It was 
now apparent to Decatur, that to resist further would be 
to needlessly sacrifice his men, and he reluctantly struck his 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 573 

colors a little before midnight. The President was considerably 
damaged by the enemy's fire, and had 24 men killed and 58 
wounded. Among the killed were three of her lieutenants. 

The President was taken to Bermuda, and shortly after- 
wards Decatur and his officers were paroled and permitted to 
return home. A court of inquiry examined into their conduct 
and acquitted them with honor for the loss of their ships. The 
news of peace arrived soon after their return home, and restored 
tliem to the service. 

During the war with England, the Dey of Algiers, supposing 
that the United States were too much occupied with the con- 
test with England to punish his insolence, suddenly made war 
upon them. He threatened to reduce Mr. Lear, the American 
Consul, to slavery, and compelled him to purchase his liberty 
and that of his family by the payment of a large ransom. 
Several American merchantmen were captured by the Algerine 
pirates, and their crews sold into slavery. The reason assigned 
by the Dey for these outrages was that the presents of the 
American Government were not satisfactory. 

The Government of the United States determined, immedi- 
ately after the peace with England, to compel the Barbar>' 
powers to make a definite and final surrender of their claim to 
tribute; and in May, 18 15, Commodore Decatur was despatched 
to the Mediterranean with a fleet often vessels, three of which 
were frigates. He was ordered to compel the Dey of Algiers 
to make satisfaction for his past outrages, and to give guaran- 
tees for his future good conduct. On the voyage out, on the 
17th of June, when off Cape de Gatt, Decatur fell in with the 
Mashouda, 44, the largest and the best ship in the Algerine 
service, and captured her in an action of thirty minutes. She 
was commanded by the Algerine Admiral. On the 19th the 
Algerine brig Estido, 22, was captured off Cape Palos. The 
fleet then proceeded to Algiers, but upon its arrival found the 
Dey in a very humble frame of mind. The loss of his two best 
ships, and the prospect of having his town knocked about his 
ears by the guns of the fleet, terrified him into submission, and 
he humbly sued for peace. He was required to come on board 
of Decatur's flag-ship, and there sign a humiliating treaty with 
the United States, by which he bound himself to indemnify the 



574 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Americans from whom he had extorted ransoms, to surrender 
all his prisoners unconditionally, to renounce all claim to trib- 
ute from the American Government, and to cease from mo- 
lesting American vessels in future. 

The difficulty with Algiers having been satisfactorily settled, 
Decatur sailed for Tunis and Tripoli, and demanded of the Beys 
of those countries indemnity for some American vessels that 
had been captured by the British in their harbors with their 
connivance. The demand in each case was coupled with a 
threat of bombardment, and was promptly complied with. 
About the middle of the summer Commodore Bainbridge joined 
Decatur with the Independence, 74, the Congress, and several 
other vessels. Being the senior officer he assumed the com- 
mand of the whole fleet ; but he found nothing to do, for the 
energetic Decatur had settled all the difficulties, and had so 
humbled the Barbary States that they ^ never renewed their 
aggressions upon American commerce. The American fleet 
then visited the principal ports of the Mediterranean. The 
brilliant record made by the Navy, and especially by Decatur, 
during the war with England, secured the fleet a flattering re- 
ception wherever it went. In the fall of 181 5 Decatur returned 
home with his squadron 

Commodore Decatur was assigned to various duties after his 
return home, and was finally made Navy Commissioner and 
placed on duty at Washington. 

In October, 18 19, certain remarks of Decatur with reference 
to the affair of the Chesapeake and the Leopard were reported 
to Commodore Barron. Barron, feeling himself aggrieved by 
them, opened a correspondence on the subject with Decatur, 
which was continued for some time. The result was a chal- 
lenge from Barron, which Decatur promptly accepted. The 
meeting took place at Bladensburg on the morning of the 22d 
of March, 1820. Both parties fell at the first fire, Barron dan- 
gerously, and Decatur mortally wounded. The dying man 
was conveyed to his residence in Washington, where he expired 
the same evening, at the early age of forty-one. 

Decatur has always been regarded as the model of an Amer- 
ican sailor. He was greatly beloved by the Navy, and was a 
favorite with the whole country. His name is still one of the 
treasures of the service he did so much to render glorious. 




WINFIELD SCOTT. 



WINFIELD SCOTT. 

AMONG those who took part in the disastrous battle of 
CuUoden, in the ranks of the Pretender, was a Scotchman 
named Scott, the younger son of a small landed proprietor of 
the clan of Buccleuch. Escaping from the field, he was aided 
by a relative living at Bristol to fly to America. He settled in 
Virginia, where he married late in life. His son, William Scott, 
was born in Virginia, was a farmer, and served through the 
Revolution as a lieutenant and captain in the Virginia line. 
In 1780 he married Ann Mason. 

WiNFiELD Scott, the eldest son of this couple, was born on 
his father's farm, about fourteen miles from Petersburg, Vir- 
ginia, on the 13th of June, 1786. He was named for his ma- 
ternal great-grandfather, who was regarded, in his time, as the 
richest man in Virginia. The elder Scott died when his son 
was six years old, and the boy was reared by his excellent 
mother. He grew up on the farm, and was sent to acquire 
an education at the old field schools of the neighborhood. 
When he was seventeen years old his mother died, and 
in the same year he went to Richmond, and entered the 
high school taught by James Ogilvie, a Scotchman, where he 
remained a year preparing for college. In 1805 he entered 
William and Mary College, where he devoted himself chiefly to 
the study of chemistry, natural and experimental philosophy, 
and the common law. He also undertook a general course of 
reading in the law, intending to make that his profession. He 
remained at William and Mary about a year, and then went to 
Petersburg, where he entered the office of David Robinson, 
Esquire, an eminent lawyer, as a student. He studied with 
him for about two years, and was admitted to the bar in the 
early spring of 1807, just before he attained his majority. On 
his first circuit he witnessed the trial of Aaron Burr at Rich- 
mond for treason. 

In June, 1807, occurred the outrage on the frigate Chesa- 

(575) 



576 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

peake, which sent a thrill of indignation through the whole 
country. President Jefferson, among his other measures, issued 
a proclamation forbidding the use of the harbors and rivers of 
the United States to the war vessels of Great Britain. Volun- 
teers were called for to enforce the prohibition, and Scott 
dropped his law books and joined the Petersburg troop of 
cavalry which had tendered its services. The troop was or- 
dered to the vicinity of Lynn Haven Bay, where a strong 
British fleet, under Sir Thomas Hardy, Nelson's old flag cap- 
tain, lay at anchor. The volunteers were encamped near the 
bay with orders to prevent the British from obtaining fresh 
water or provisions from the shore. Scott was appointed a 
corporal, and in his zeal to execute his orders, captured a mid- 
shipman and boat's crew of six men, belonging to one of the 
ships, who had gone up one of the creeks to obtain provisions. 
The middy, afterwards Captain Fox, of the English Navy, was 
"treated like a prince" by his captors, and declared they were 
downright good fellows. The capture was promptly reported 
to the Government at Washington, and orders were as promptly 
received to restore the prisoners to Sir Thomas Hardy. Scott 
was warned to moderate his zeal, and "to take care not to do 
so again." The Chesapeake excitement being over, the volun- 
teers were dismissed, and Scott returned to his practice. 

In October, 1807, he left Virginia, intending to settle in 
Charleston, South Carolina, as a lawyer. As he spent some 
time at Columbia, on the way, he did not reach Charleston 
until the 24th of December, 1807. Here he learned that the 
quarrel with England had reached such a state that war was 
the most probable issue to it. He had had a taste of army 
life, and had found it more to his liking than the law, and he 
left Charleston and embarked for New York, from which place 
he hastened to Washington. His friend, the Hon. Wm. B. 
Giles, afterwards Governor of Virginia, and then a member of 
Congress from that State, introduced him to President Jefferson 
and the Secretary of War, and cordially endorsed his applica- 
tion for a commission in the army. Mr. Jefferson received him 
with favor, and promised him a captaincy if the bill for the in- 
crease of the army, then before Congress, should become a 
law. In the meantime Scott went back to Petersburg, and 



WINFIELD SCOTT. 57/ 

resumed his position at the bar. He was engaged in his prac- 
tice when he received, in the summer of 1808, the promised 
commission of captain of light or flying artillery in the army 
of the United States, bearing the date of May 3, 1808. 

Scott at once set to work to recruit his company, which he 
did at Petersburg and Richmond in the course of the next few 
months. He was then ordered with it to Norfolk, from which 
place he embarked for New Orleans, on the 4th of February, 
1809. The passage was long and stormy, and New Orleans 
was not reached until the ist of April. He soon grew tired of 
the monotony of garrison life. " The excitement that caused 
the augmentation of the army the year before," he says, " like 
that which led to the embargo, soon subsided, to rise and fall 
again and again in the next four years. So great was the calm 
in the summer of 1809 that I once more turned my mind 
towards civil pursuits, and sailed for Virginia. Before my resig- 
nation had been definitely accepted by the War Department, 
I heard that grave charges would be brought against me if I 
dared to return to the army of the Lower Mississippi. This 
was decisive. At once I resolved to face my accusers. Accord- 
ingly, I rejoined the main army, then at Washington, near 
Natchez." He was soon after brought to trial on charges 
based upon his declaration that he believed General Wilkinson 
to be as much of a traitor as Burr — an opinion he maintained 
all his life — and upon some irregularities in the payment of his 
company. He was found guilty of " unofficer-like conduct " 
in speaking disrespectfully of his superior officer, and in not 
following the prescribed forms in paying his company, but the 
court entirely acquitted him " of all fraudulent intentions in 
detaining the pay of his men." He was sentenced to twelve 
months' suspension. He passed this period at Petersburg, and 
in the fall of 181 2 rejoined the army at Baton Rouge. In the 
winter of 1811-12 he was appointed Aide-de-camp to General 
Wade Hampton. As it was certain in the spring of 1 8 1 2 that 
war was imminent. General Hampton sailed from New Orleans 
for Baltimore on the 20th of May, en route for Washington, 
taking with him his two aides. Captain Scott and Lieutenant 
Gardner. Baltimore was reached on the 2ist of June, and 
Washington the next day, after the declaration of war against 
England. 
37 



578 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Upon reaching Washington, Scott found that he had been 
advanced to the grade of Lieutenant Colonel. He was ordered 
to the Northern frontier, and directed to report to Brigadier- 
General Alexander Smyth, whose headquarters were near 
Buffalo. He reached that place on the 4th of October, 1812, 
and was assigned to duty with his battalion near Black Rock, 
where on the 8th of October he " smelt gunpowder" for the 
first time in a skirmish with the enemy. 

A body of troops, principally New York State militia, had 
been collected under the orders of General Van Rensselaer at 
Lewiston, on the Niagara River, opposite Queenstown, which 
was held by a British force under General Brock. On the 
13th of October a portion of the American force, under Colonel 
Stephen Van Rensselaer, a relative of the General, crossed to 
the Canada side, and drove the British from their batteries. 
General Brock, with a detachment of his command, attempted 
to recover the batteries, but was driven back and was killed. 
At his urgent request, Scott had been permitted to cross to the 
Canada side and take command of the troops. He arrived on the 
ground about the time that Brock was killed, and took charge of 
the small American force. General Sheaffe, Brock's successor, 
now prepared to recover the lost works with a strong force, 
and General Van Rensselaer endeavored to send reinforcements 
to Scott, but the New York militia refused to cross the river, 
declaring that they could not be ordered out of their own State 
without their consent. The result was, as might have been 
expected, the British attack was successful, and Scott and 
his little band were forced to surrender themselves prisoners of 
war. Scott was well treated, and in November was paroled, 
and on the 12th of that month sailed for Boston. In January, 
18 1 3, he was exchanged. In March he was appointed Adju- 
tant-General, with the rank of Colonel, and about the same 
time was made Colonel of his regiment. 

He proceeded to join the army of General Dearborn on the 
Niagara frontier, and for some months discharged the duties 
of Adjutant-General of the army and of colonel of his regiment. 
Acting in the former position he organized the service of all 
the staff departments of the army, and gave to Dearborn's force 
more consistency and a better discipline than it had ever 



WINFIELD SCOTT. 579 

enjoyed before. He took an active part in the operations on 
the Niagara frontier, commanding his regiment in a number 
of engagements and skirmishes. He greatly distinguished 
himself at the capture of Fort George on the 27th of May, 
18 1 3, and covered the retreat of the army after the disaster at 
Stony Creek on the 6th of June, in which Generals Chandler 
and Winder were made prisoners. 

The failure of General Dearborn to accomplish anything of 
importance, induced the President to recall him, and to appoint 
General Wilkinson, Scott's old enemy, as his successor, Wil- 
kinson took command of the army about midsummer, and 
Scott soon after resigned his position as Adjutant-General. 
He took part in Wilkinson's expedition against Montreal, 
which was brought to a sudden and disastrous end by the de- 
feat of that General at Chrystler's farm, on the i ith of No- 
vember, 1 8 13, and upon the return of the army to the Niagara 
was summoned to Washington on business by the War De- 
partment. 

Wilkinson's incompetence caused his removal, and early in 
1 8 14 he was succeeded by General Brown, an able and careful 
commander. In March of that year, Scott was promoted to the 
grade of Brigadier-General and assigned to duty under General 
Brown. Appreciating the value of discipline, General Brown 
ordered General Scott to establish a camp of instruction at 
Buffalo, and to devote the time which must elapse before the 
opening of the season of hostilities to improving the drill and 
discipline of the troops. Scott set to work with vigor, and for 
the next three months both he and the troops devoted ten hours 
a day to these labors. The result was the well-disciplined and 
efficient army which, in the campaign of 18 14, wiped out the 
disgrace of the previous years. 

General Brown's force numbered about five thousand men, 
and, thanks to Scott's exertions, was the most efficient body of 
troops the United States had yet put in the field. Towards the 
last of June orders were given to cross the Niagara, which was 
accomplished on the 2d of July. Fort Erie was at once in- 
vested, a few pieces of artillery were placed in position, a few 
shots exchanged, and the Fort surrendered on the 3d of July. 
On the 4th of July, General Scott, with the advanced guard of 



580 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the army, moved towards the main body of the British, which 
had taken position, under General Riall, at Chippewa, fifteen 
miles distant. Some skirmishing took place with the enemy 
during the day, and at dark Scott took up a strong position to 
await the arrival of the rest of the army under General Brown, 
which joined him during the night. The next day, the 5th, the 
enemy were attacked and defeated after a severe engagement, with 
the loss of five hundred men. The American loss was three 
hundred. In this battle Scott displayed great ability and cool- 
ness. During the greater part of the time he was obliged to 
engage the enemy single-handed, and was left in ignorance 
throughout the whole battle of the positions and movements 
of the rest of the army. The victory was greeted with enthu- 
siasm by the nation. It marked the end of the series of dis- 
asters brought upon the army by incompetent commanders. 
Scott's name was on every tongue. 

After his defeat at Chippewa, General Riall fell back to 
Burlington Heights, and the Americans advanced to Queens- 
town, but soon after withdrew to Chippewa. Having been 
strongly reinforced by a body of troops under General Drum- 
mond, Riall advanced from Burlington Heights to attack the 
Americans, followed by General Drummond's command. At 
the same time General Brown, who had heard of Drummond's 
arrival, set out from Chippewa to attack the British. As usual, 
the advance of the American army was commanded by General 
Scott. In the afternoon of the 25th of July, Scott was informed 
by his reconnoitring parties that there was a British corps of 
observation in the neighborhood, and advanced to attack it. 
Towards sunset he discovered that he had been deceived by 
his scouts as to the strength of the enemy, and suddenly found 
himself in the presence of the whole British army, which was 
drawn up at Lundy's Lane, or Bridgewater, opposite the Falls 
of Niagara. 

The enemy's force was strongly posted, and was superior in 
numbers to the whole American army. Notwithstanding this 
fact, and the lateness of the hour, Scott resolved to attack at 
once, knowing that he would soon be supported by the rest of 
the army. He opened the battle with his artillery, and the 
enemy, detecting his weakness, made an attempt to crush him 



WINFIELD SCOTT. 581 

before the arrival of the rest of the troops. The attempt was 
handsomely repulsed, and Scott threw forward his line, flanked 
the enemy, and captured Major General Riall. 

General Brown now came up with the reserve, and, although 
it was dark, at Scott's urgent request, continued the battle. 
Tlie British had posted a battery on a hill which commanded 
the field, and from this maintained a heavy and destructive fire 
upon the Americans. It was captured by the 21st regiment 
under Colonel James Miller. General Drummond, who had 
succeeded General Riall in the command of the British army, 
made three determined efforts to retake the battery, but was 
each time driven back with heavy loss. 

It was midnight when the last charge of the enemy was re- 
pulsed. About 800 men had fallen on each side. The Amer- 
icans had exhausted their ammunition, and were dependent 
upon the cartridges that could be obtained from the boxes of 
the dead. Scott had been twice dismounted and badly con- 
tused in the side by a spetit cannon ball early in the action. 
As the British gave way for the last time, he was severely 
wounded in the left shoulder by a musket ball, and was carried 
to the rear. 

The victory was secure, however, for the British, finding all 
their efforts in vain, sullenly withdrew, and left the field to the 
Americans. The latter were so exhausted by their hard march 
of fifteen miles and five hours of constant fighting that they 
made no effort at pursuit, and soon withdrew from the hill to 
their original position. As they had no means of bringing off 
the captured guns, they were obliged to leave them behind. 

The victory was due mainly to the exertions of Scott. He 
was so badly wounded, however, as to be obliged to quit the 
army. He was sent to Buffalo, but failing to find the requisite 
medical skill there, set out for Philadelphia by easy stages. It 
was not until October that he was able to walk or mount a 
horse. He was then ordered to take command at Baltimore, 
which was threatened by the enemy. For his gallant services 
he was brevetted a Major General, to take rank from the 25th 
of July, 1 8 14, the day of the victory of Lundy's Lane. Con- 
gress ordered a gold medal to be struck and presented to him 
" in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of 



582 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

his distinguished services in the successive conflicts of Chip- 
pewa and Niagara (Lundy's Lane), and of his uniform gal- 
lantry and good conduct in sustaining the reputation of the arms 
of the United States." By the time he was thoroughly well, the 
war was over. 

The reduction of the army to a peace footing was accom- 
plished in May, 18 15. Scott was retained as the senior of the 
four brigadiers, each of which was a major-general by brevet. 
It was strongly urged upon the President to appoint General 
Scott Secretary of War, but he discouraged the proposition, 
preferring to remain in the position he had won by his services 
in the field. 

In July, 18 1 5, Scott went to Europe, partly on a mission for 
the Government, and partly for rest and recreation. He re- 
mained abroad a little more than a year, and was the recipient 
of many flattering attentions in England and France. He was 
in Paris during the occupation of that city by the Allies after 
the battle of Waterloo. Returning home late in 1 8 16, he re- 
sumed his duties in the army. Soon after his return he was 
married to Miss Maria Mayo, of Richmond, Va., a lady noted 
for her beauty and many accomplishments. Seven children 
were born of this marriage, of whom but three daughters sur- 
vived their parents, the others — two sons and two daughters 
— having died quite young. 

In 1 82 1, General Scott published his " Military Institutes" or 
general regulations for the United States army, and some years 
later, issued the " Tactics," or manual of instruction for the army, 
which bore his name, and was so long familiar to the whole 
country. In 1827 he obtained leave to visit Europe again, and 
spent that year and a part of 1828 in travelling in the old world. 
Upon the breaking out of the Black Hawk War, in 1832, Scott 
was ordered to the West to take command of the troops. He 
reached the army after General Atkinson had defeated Black 
Hawk, and by his energy and humanity he soon succeeded in 
restoring peace to the frontier, and in inducing the Indians to 
remove beyond the Mississippi. 

When the Nullification troubles set in, in 1832, President 
Jackson made no secret of his determination to maintain the 
supremacy of the General Government. In order to do this. 



WINFIELD SCOTT. 583 

it was necessary that the command of the Federal force assem- 
bled in the harbor of Charleston should be entrusted to some 
officer in whose firmness and discretion the Government could 
repose absolute confidence. Though there had long been bad 
blood between Jackson and Scott, the President selected him 
for this position. He proceeded to Charleston, and quietly 
assumed the command, straining every nerve to be prepared 
for the struggle should it come, and exerting all his influence 
in favor of a policy of conciliation. The troubles were ad- 
justed, as we have seen, and Scott's course gave equal satisfac- 
tion to the Federal Government and to the people of Charleston. 

In 1836 he was appointed to succeed General Gaines in 
command of the force engaged in the Florida war. In conse- 
quence of the failure of the Government to supply his force 
properly, the expedition accomplished nothing. He was then 
ordered to the Chattahoochee to take the field against the 
Creeks. His second in command, General Jessup, becoming 
dissatisfied with Scott's plan of campaign, addressed a complaint 
to the editor of the official newspaper at Washington. The 
letter was shown to the President, who made it a pretext for 
striking his long-desired blow at Scott. He at once removed 
Scott from his command, ordered him before a court of inquiry, 
and appointed General Jessup his successor. The court met in 
the latter part of the fall of 1836, and after an impartial hearing, 
administered a decided rebuke to the President by honorably 
acquitting General Scott of all the charges against him, and 
declaring that he had done all that could be expected of a brave 
and skillful officer. 

In the winter of 1837-38, the troubles on the Canadian 
border, which came near involving the United States in another 
war with England, caused President Van Buren to send General 
Scott to the Niagara frontier to compel the Canadian insurgents 
and their sympathizers in the State of New York to respect the 
neutrality of the United States. Scott reached Buffalo soon 
after the burning of the steamer Caroline by the Canadians, and 
while the excitement was at its height. He was accompanied 
by Governor Marcy, of New York. The American allies of the 
insurgents had taken possession of a small island in the Niagara 
River, called Navy Island, about a quarter of a mile above the 



5 84 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

falls and within the limits of Canada. After the destruction of 
the Caroline, they hired another steamer called the Barcelona, 
which was taken down from Buffalo to a point opposite the 
island. Scott determined to prevent the insurgents from using 
the steamer, and succeeded in hiring her from her owners for 
the service of the United States. He then ordered her back 
to Buffalo. 

In the meantime the British commander on the Canada shore 
prepared to open fire on the steamer and destroy her as she 
ascended the stream. Upon learning this, Scott stationed sev- 
eral batteries of artillery at Black Rock, opposite the British 
position, and notified the British commander that he should 
return the fire if the Barcelona were attacked. On the morn- 
ing of the i6th of January, 1838, the steamer moved slowly 
up the Niagara towards Buffalo. The activity of the British 
on the Canada shore seemed to indicate their intention to fire 
upon the steamer, and noticing this, Scott caused his batteries 
to be prepared for action. The gunners stood with matches 
lighted ready to return the English fire, and Scott posted him- 
self on the end of the pier at Black Rock in full view of both 
parties, to watch the slowly ascending vessel. The greatest 
excitement prevailed, and the question of peace or war de- 
pended on the events of the next few moments. The English 
suffered the steamer to pass their guns unmolested, however, 
and the danger was over. By great exertions Scott succeeded 
in restoring order along the border. In 1839, when there was 
danger of a conflict between the people of Maine and the 
British Province of New Brunswick, in consequence of the 
dispute over the North-eastern boundary, Scott was sent to the 
border, and succeeded, by his moderation and firmness, in 
preserving the peace until the matter could be settled by 
treaty. 

In June, 1841, on the death of General Macomb, Scott be- 
came General-in-chief of the entire army. His headquarters 
were established at Washington, and he devoted himself to the 
improvement of the discipline and efficiency of the army. 

In the spring of 1846, war broke out between the United 
States and Mexico. The campaign of 1846 was fought by 
General Taylor and others. Scott, as commanding General, 



WINFIELD SCOTT. 585 

endeavored to impress upon the Government the necessity of 
providing an adequate force for the prosecution of the war, 
but was nev^er able to accomplish much in this direction. Late 
in the year he was ordered, at his own earnest solicitation, to 
proceed to Mexico, with a strong force, and after establishing 
a secure base on the Gulf coast, to advance into the interior 
towards the City of Mexico. 

The troops designed for this expedition rendezvoused at New 
Orleans, where they were joined promptly by General Scott. 
Late in November, 1846, the expedition sailed for the Island 
of Lobos, about one hundred and twenty-five miles north of 
Vera Cruz. The plan adopted by Scott was very simple — to 
capture Vera Cruz, and then advance upon the Capital by the 
most direct route. The expedition was delayed several months 
at Lobos Island, awaiting the arrival of supplies from the United 
States and the divisions of Worth, Quitman and Wool which 
had been drawn from General Taylor's army. At length all 
was in readiness, and the fleet sailed from Lobos Island early 
in March, 1847. Vera Cruz was reached on the 8th, and on 
the morning of the 9th, the landing of the troops was begun, 
under cover of the guns of the fleet. In the course of a few 
hours, the whole force, consisting of twelve thousand men, was 
successfully landed without the loss of a man or a boat. 

Vera Cruz was, next to Quebec, the strongest fortress in 
America. It contained a population of fifteen thousand souls, 
and was well garrisoned. Its chief work was the Castle of San 
Juan de UUoa, which was built out in the harbor some distance 
from the shore. The city and vicinity had been carefully re- 
connoitered. On the lOth of March, the investment was begun 
by General Worth, and the American lines were established 
around the city for a distance of six miles. Having decided to 
reduce the city by a bombardment and regular approaches, 
Scott spent the next twelve days in constructing batteries. At 
four o'clock on the afternoon of the 22d of March, the Ameri- 
can batteries opened fire upon the town, and the fleet at the 
same time attacked the castle. The bombardment was con- 
ducted with such vigor that the city and castle were surren- 
dered to the American commander on the 27th. Over 5,000 
prisoners and five hundred pieces of artillery were taken. The 



586 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

garrison was dismissed on parole, and the inhabitants were 
protected in their civil and religious rights. 

Leaving a strong garrison under General Worth to hold the 
city and castle, Scott set out for the interior as soon as he 
could procure sufificient transportation. His force amounted 
to about 8,500 men. He found his way barred by the Mexican 
President, Santa Anna, who, with 12,000 men, was strongly 
intrenched at Cerro Gordo, a mountain pass at the eastern end 
of the Cordilleras. On the iSth of April, Scott turned the 
left of the Mexican position, seized the heights commanding 
it, and drove the enemy from their works with a loss of over 
a thousand killed and wounded and three thousand prisoners, 
and forty-three pieces of cannon. Santa Anna fled in haste 
from the field, leaving his -baggage and private papers in the 
hands of the Americans. Scott's loss in this engagement was 
431 killed and wounded. 

The brilliant victory of Cerro Gordo opened the way for the 
American army to Jalapa, which was occupied on the 19th of 
April. Continuing his advance. General Scott captured the 
strong fortress of Perote, which opened its gates to him on the 
22d of April. On the 15th of May, Puebla, the second city of 
Mexico, containing a population of eighty thousand, was occu- 
pied. Here Scott established his headquarters, and awaited 
the arrival of reinforcements. He was obliged to spend several 
months in idleness here in consequence of the reduction of his 
force by the expiration of the enlistments of the volunteers, 
who refused to continue in the service, as they dreaded the 
yellow fever, the season for which had set in. They were al- 
lowed to return home. The force remaining with Scott was 
greatly weakened by sickness, eighteen hundred men being in 
the hospitals of Puebla alone. 

While at Puebla, General Scott was ordered by the Secre- 
tary of War to collect duties on merchandise entering the 
Mexican ports, and to apply the money thus obtained to the 
needs of the army, and to levy contributions upon the Mexican 
people for the use of the troops. He refused to obey the latter 
order, declaring that the country through which he was moving 
was too poor to warrant impressments, and that such a meas- 
ure would exasperate the Mexicans and cause them to refuse 



WINFIELD SCOTT. 58/ 

to supply the army at all. He continued to buy provisions for 
his troops, at the market rates of the country, and by so doing 
greatly allayed the bitterness of feeling with which the Mexicans 
regarded the Americans. 

Another annoyance to which the commander-in-chief was 
subjected, arose from the ill-advised action of Mr. N. P. Trist, 
who had been sent out to Mexico by President Polk in the 
quality of peace commissioner. Mr. Trist had been selected 
because of his familiarity with the Spanish language, and his 
personal relations with President Polk. He was furnished with 
the draft of a treaty carefully prepared in the State Depart- 
ment at Washington, and was entrusted with a despatch from 
Mr. Buchanan, the Secretary of State, to the Mexican minister 
of foreign relations. He was dinected to communicate confi- 
dentially to General Scott and Commodore Perry both the 
treaty and his instructions. General Scott was informed of 
Mr. Trist's mission by the Secretary of War, and was directed 
to suspend military operations until further orders, unless 
attacked. 

Mr. Trist reached Vera Cruz in due time, but instead of ex- 
plaining his mission to General Scott, as directed, he sent a 
note from Vera Cruz to the Commander-in-Chief, enclosing the 
letter of the Secretaiy of War and the sealed despatch to the 
Mexican Minister, the latter of which he requested the General 
to forward to its destination. The letter of the Secretary of 
War could not be understood by General Scott without the 
explanation which Mr. Trist had been instructed to make, but 
failed to give. General Scott very properly resented the con- 
duct of Mr. Trist as an attempt to degrade him by making 
him subordinate to that personage. In his letter to him he de- 
clared that the suspension of hostilities belonged to the com- 
mander in the field, and not to the Secretary of War a thousand 
miles away. Trist thereupon wrote to Scott, giving him a full 
explanation of his mission, but did so in disrespectful terms. 
He claimed to be the representative of the President, and as 
such to possess the right to issue orders to the Commander- 
in-Chief Scott refused to admit his claim, and referred the 
matter to Washington, maintaining, in the meantime, his 



588 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

independence of action as commanding general. In due time 
explanations came from Washington satisfactory to the com- 
manding general ; and Mr. Trist was sharply reprimanded by 
the Secretary of State " for his presuming to command the 
General-in-Chief" 

Reinforcements were at length received from the United 
States. They reached Puebla in July, and on the 7th of August 
General Scott resumed his advance upon the City of Mexico, 
with a force increased to ten thousand men. The route lay 
through a beautiful upland country, abounding in water, and 
rich in the most picturesque scenery. The troops pressed on 
with enthusiasm, and on the loth of August the summit of the 
Cordilleras was passed, and the City of Mexico burst upon the 
view of the army, lying in the midst of its lovely valley, and 
encircled with the strong works that had been erected for its 
defence. 

Had General Scott been able to push on to the City of Mex- 
ico immediately after his occupation of Puebla, it must have 
fallen into his hands almost without a blow. Matters were differ- 
ent now. Santa Anna had been enabled, by the delay at Puebla, 
to collect a new army of twenty-five thousand men and sixty 
pieces of artillery, and to fortify the Capital and its approaches. 
The passes on the direct road to the city had been well forti- 
fied and garrisoned by the Mexicans, but the country upon the 
flanks had been left unguarded, because Santa Anna did not 
believe that any troops could pass over it and turn his position. 
El Penon, the most formidable of these defences, was reconnoi- 
tred by the American engineers, who reported that it would 
cost at least 3,000 lives to carry it. Scott, therefore, determined 
to turn El Penon instead of attacking it. The city and its 
immediate defences were carefully reconnoitred, and it was dis- 
covered that the works on the South and West were weaker 
than at any other point. General Scott now moved to the 
left, passed El Penon on the South, and by the aid of a corps 
of skillful engineers, moved his army across ravines and chasms 
which the Mexican commander had pronounced impassable, 
and had left unguarded. General Twiggs led the advance, and 
halted and encamped at Chalco, on the lake of the same name. 



WINFIELD SCOTT. 589 

Worth followed, and, passing Twiggs, encamped at the town 
of San Augustin, eight miles from the Capital.-' 

As soon as Santa Anna found that the Americans had turned 
El Penon, and had advanced to the South side of the city, he 
left that fortress and took post in the strong fort of San Anto- 
nio, which lay directly in front of Worth's new position. North- 
west of San Antonio, and four miles from the city, lay the little 
village of Churubusco, which had been strongly fortified by the 
Mexicans. A little to the west of San Augustin was the fortified 
camp of Contreras, with a garrison of about six thousand men. 
In the rear, between the camp and the city, was a reserve force 
of twelve thousand men. The whole number of Mexicans man- 
ning the defences of the Capital was about thirty-five thousand 
and the works were provided with at least one hundred pieces 
of artillery of various sizes. 

General Scott lost no time in moving against the enemy's 
works. General Persifer F. Smith was ordered to attack the 
intrenched camp at Contreras, while the brigades of Shields 
and Pierce were to move in between the camp and the position 
of Santa Anna at San Antonio, and prevent that commander 
from aiding his force at Contreras. At three o'clock on the 
morning of the 20th of August, Smith began his march in the 
midst of a cold rain, his men holding on to each other to avoid 
being separated in the darkness. He made his attack at sun- 
rise, and in fifteen minutes had possession of the camp. He 
took 3,000 prisoners, and 33 pieces of cannon. 

The camp at Contreras having fallen. General Scott attacked 
the fortified village of Churubusco, an hour or two later, and 
carried it after a struggle of several hours. General Worth's 
division stormed and carried the strong fort of San Antonio, 
and General Twiggs captured another important work. The 
Mexicans outnumbered their assailants three to one, and fought 
bravely. Their efforts were in vain, however, and late in the 

1 " The Duke of Wellington, with whom the autobiographer was slightly ac- 
quainted, took quite an interest in the march of this army from Vera Cruz, and at 
every arrival caused its movements to be marked on a miip. Admiring its triumphs 
up to the basin of Mexico, he now said to a common friend : ' Scott is lost. He 
has been carried away by successes. He can't take the city, and he can't fall back 
upon his base.' " — Geti. Scotfs Autobiography, p. 466. 



590 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

afternoon they were driven from their outer defences, and pur- 
sued by the American cavalry to the gates of the city. 

These two victories were won over a force of 30,000 Mexi- 
cans by less than 10,000 Americans. The enemy's loss was 
4,000 killed and wounded and 3,000 prisoners; that of the 
victors, 1,100. 

Santa Anna retreated within the city, and on the 21st of 
August the American army advanced to within three miles of 
the city of Mexico. On the same day Santa Anna sent a flag 
of truce to General Scott, asking for a suspension of hostilities, 
with a view to opening negotiations for a peace. The request 
was granted. Mr. Trist proceeded at once to the city, and 
began negotiations with the Mexican commissioners. After a 
series of delays, designed to gain time, the Mexican commis- 
sioners declined the American conditions, and proposed others 
which they knew would not be accepted. Mr. Trist at once 
broke off the conferences, and returned to the camp with the 
intelligence that Santa Anna had violated the armistice by 
using the time gained by it in strengthening his defences. In- 
dignant at such treachery, Scott promptly put an end to the 
truce, and resumed his advance upon the city. 

The Mexican capital was still defended by two powerful 
works. One of these was Molino del Rey, "the King's mill," 
a foundry, where it was said the church bells were being cast 
into cannon; the other was the strong castle of Chapultepec. 
General Scott resolved to make his first attack upon Molino 
del Rey, which was held by 14,000 Mexicans. It was stormed 
and carried on the 8th of September, by Worth's division, 4,000 
strong, after a severe conflict. This was regarded as the hard- 
est won victory of the war. The Americans were unable to 
make much use of their artillery, and fought principally with 
their rifles and muskets. Their loss was 787 killed and 
wounded — nearly one-fifth of the force engaged. 

The castle of Chapultepec stood on a steep and lofty hill, 
and could not be turned. It could be carried only by a direct 
assault. On the 12th of September the American artillery 
opened fire upon it and reduced it nearly to ruins. On the 
morning of the 1 3th a determined assault was made by the 
Americans, and the castle was carried after a sharp struggle. 



WINFIELD SCOTT. 59I 

The fugitives from Chapultepec retreated to the city by the 
causeway leading to the Belen Gate, closely followed by Quit- 
man's division. Worth's division was moved forward to attack 
the San Cosmo Gate, while Quitman assailed the Belen Gate. 
The defences of the causeway were taken in succession, and 
by nightfall the Belen and the San Cosmo Gates were in pos- 
session of the Americans, after a hard fight for them. The 
troops slept on the ground they had won. 

During the night of the 13th, Santa Anna, with the remains 
of his army, retreated from the city, leaving the authorities to 
make the best terms they could with the conquerors. The 
city authorities presented themselves at Scott's quarters before 
daybreak, and proposed terms of capitulation. Scott replied 
that the city was already in his possession, and that he would 
enter it upon his own terms; but added that the inhabitants 
would be protected in all their rights, if they refrained from 
hostile demonstrations. The next day, September 14th, 1847, 
the American army entered the City of Mexico, occupied the 
grand square, and hoisted the Stars and Stripes over the Gov- 
ernment buildings. 

The fall of the Capital was follow^ed by a revolution which 
expelled Santa Anna from power and drove him out of the 
country. He fled to the West Indies, and the new Govern- 
ment opened negotiations with Mr. Trist for peace. The result 
was the Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, signed on the 2d of 
February, 1848, and ratified by the Senate of the United States 
in July, 1848. 

The services of General Scott were enthusiastically lauded 
by the American people, as they deserved to be; but he was 
about to receive at the hands of the President of the United 
States the most ungrateful treatment that could be visited upon a 
victorious general. While the whole country was ringing with 
his praise, orders were despatched to him from Washington to 
turn over the command of the army to Major General Butler, 
and submit himself to a court of inquiry upon charges preferred 
against him by Major Generals Worth and Pillow, and Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Duncan. These orders were received by Scott 
on the 1 8th of February, 1848. He at once relinquished his 
command to General Butler. 



592 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The cause of this indignity, which Scott describes as a 
"continuation of the Jackson persecution," was that in the early 
part of the campaign Scott had been obHged to reprimand 
Worth, Pillow and Duncan for insubordinate conduct. After 
the capture of the City of Mexico these officers were placed 
under arrest, and the President was requested by the Com- 
manding General to order them before a court of inquiry. To 
shield themselves, these officers made counter-charges against 
the Commander-in-Chief Pillow, who was a strong personal 
friend of President Polk, and had done much to secure his 
election to the Presidency, and whose conduct at Fort Donnel- 
son, during the late war, revealed the man, prevailed. The 
conqueror of Mexico was sacrificed to the political influence of 
the partisan of President Polk ; the three arrested officers were 
restored to their commands by order of the President, and Scott 
was ordered before a court of inquiry "for daring," as he de- 
clared to the Secretary of War, " to enforce necessary discipline 
in this army against certain of its high officers." 

The court of inquiry met at the City of Mexico. It con- 
sisted of Major General Towson and Brigadier-Generals Bel- 
knap and Caleb Gushing. The reader can see from the compo- 
sition of this court, composed of three of the most insignificant 
officers of the army, how far Mr. Polk was prepared to sustain 
Pillow in his effort to sacrifice Scott. After a session of a few 
weeks the court adjourned to meet at Frederick, Marjdand. 
After the return of the army to the United States the court 
reassembled at Frederick. Scott boldly defied the conspiracy 
against him, and demanded the most searching investigation 
into his conduct. The court contented itself with whitewashing 
General Pillow, but none of the conspirators dared to press the 
charges against Scott, which were withdrawn. The indignation 
of the country was so open and outspoken that Mr. Polk made 
haste to dissolve the court after the whitewashing of Pillow. 

In the meantime, after the adjournment of the Court at Mex- 
ico, General Scott set out for the United States. Generously 
leaving all the steamers for the transportation of the troops who 
were about to evacuate Mexico, he sailed from Vera Cruz " in 
a small sailing brig, loaded down with guns, mortars and ord- 
nance stores." New York harbor was reached on the 20th of 



WINFIELD SCOTT, 593 

May, and Scott, engaging a row-boat, proceeded at once to join 
his family at Elizabeth. He was sore at the injustice of which 
he had been made the victim. As soon as his arrival was known, 
however, he was waited upon by a committee from New York, 
and was induced to visit that city, where he was welcomed with 
a magnificent civic and military reception, which showed him 
that the people had not failed to do him justice. At his own 
request he was assigned by the Government to the command 
of the Eastern Department, with his headquarters at New York. 
He was rewarded with the thanks of Congress, and a gold medal 
was struck and presented to him by that body in honor of his 
victories in Mexico. Upon the inauguration of President Tay- 
lor, Scott resumed the command of the whole army, but re- 
tained his headquarters at New York, until the accession of 
President Fillmore, In 1852 Congress revived the grade of 
Lieutenant-General, which had been held by Washington alone, 
and conferred it upon General Scott. 

In June, 1852, the National Convention of the Whig party 
nominated General Scott for the Presidency of the United States. 
At the fall elections he was defeated by General Pierce, the 
Democratic candidate. 

In 1859 the dispute about the Island of San Juan, in Puget's 
Sound, came near embroiling the United States and Great 
Britain in war. General Scott was at once despatched to the 
scene of the trouble by President Buchanan, and succeeded in 
averting the danger by causing the island to be held by a joint 
occupation of the forces of both countries until their respective 
governments could settle the claim of ownership. 

Upon the secession of the Southern States in i860 and 1861, 
it was supposed by many that General Scott, being a Virginian 
by birth, would sustain the South. He had no idea of doing 
so, however, and from the first urged the Administration of 
President Buchanan to strengthen the garrisons of all the South- 
ern forts. His first proposition to this effect was submitted to 
the President in October, i860, before the Presidential election. 
He declared that in his opinion all these works should be held 
by a force which would render any attempt to seize or capture 
them hopeless. His advice was disregarded by the Adminis- 
tration, however. The Richmond Examiner^ the ablest journal 



594 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

in the South at that time, thus endorses his plan: "The plan 
invented by General Scott to stop secession was, like all cam- 
paigns devised by him, very able in its details and nearly cer- 
tain of general success. The Southern States are full of arsenals 
and forts, commanding their rivers and strategic points. Gen- 
eral Scott desired to transfer the army of the United States to 
these forts as speedily and as quietly as possible. The South- 
ern States could not cut off communication between the Gov- 
ernment and the fortresses without a great fleet, which they can- 
not build for years — or take them by land without one hundred 
thousand men, many hundred millions of dollars, several cam- 
paigns, and many a bloody seige. Had Scott been able to have 
got these forts in the condition lie desired them to be, the Southern 
Confederacy woidd not now exists 

Believing that an attempt would be made to prevent the in- 
auguration of President Lincoln, General Scott, though in feeble 
health and suffering from bodily infirmity, collected a force, of 
regulars at Washington, to which he added the volunteers of 
the city. He took personal command of this force, though he 
had received many letters threatening him with assassination 
if he dared to be present on the occasion. Under the protec- 
tion of the the troops the inauguration took place without in- 
terruption. 

General Scott favored a firm but conciliatory policy on the 
part of the Administration of Mr. Lincoln. He was in favor 
of reinforcing Fort Sumter, and when it was apparent that war 
was inevitable, gave his energetic support to the efforts of the 
Government to prepare the army for the field. 

He was not to take part in the great struggle, however. For 
many years his health had been failing, but in spite of this he 
had clung to his duties with characteristic energy. A younger 
and more active man was needed at the head of the armies of 
the United States ; and recognizing this necessity. General Scott, 
on the 31st of October, 1861, relinquished his position as Com- 
mander-in-Chief, and retired from active duty. " A cripple," 
he says, " unable to walk without assistance for three years, on 
retiring from all military duty, October 31st, 1 861, being broken 
down by recent official labors of from nine to seventeen hours 
a day, with a decided tendency to vertigo and dropsy, I had 



WINFIELD SCOTT. 595 

the honor to be waited on by President Lincoln, at the head 
of his Cabinet, who, in a neat and affecting address, took leave 
of the worn-out soldier." In consideration of his distinguished 
services. Congress passed a special act continuing to General 
Scott his pay and allowances. 

In November, i86i. General Scott sailed for Europe on a 
tour for health and rest, but soon returned in consequence of 
the prospect of a foreign war, caused by the Trent affair. In 
the event of such a complication he hoped to be of service once 
more to his country. 

As time passed on he grew feebler, and was almost helpless 
during his last years. He lived to see the Union emerge suc- 
cessfully from the Civil War, and the last danger removed 
from the country he loved so well. He died at West Point on 
the 29th of May, 1 866, and was buried in the cemetery of the 
Military Academy. 

General Scott was a man of almost gigantic stature, of noble 
and commanding appearance, and was possessed of unusual 
personal strength and endurance. In manner he was courteous 
and dignified, and even somewhat stiff His private character 
was above reproach. He was a man of the purest honor, of 
the nicest sense of right, very generous, and utterly incapable 
of a mean or dishonorable action. As a commander he was 
enterprising and at the same time prudent. He never shrank 
from any personal danger in the field, but was exceedingly 
careful of his men. He gave great attention to the comfort 
and health of his troops, and was a strict disciplinarian, count- 
ing nothing too unimportant to engage his attention. He was 
greatly averse to bloodshed, and was always ready to settle 
difficulties by negotiation rather than by fighting ; though when 
it came to blows, he was for making short and decisive work 
of It 



HORACE GREELEY. 

HORACE GREELEY was born at Amherst, New Hamp- 
shire, on the 3d of February, 181 1. He was the third of 
seven children, two of whom had died before his birth. His 
father was Zaccheus Greeley, a farmer, whose ancestor had 
emigrated to this country from Nottingham, in England, about 
the year 1650. His mother was Mary Woodburn, of Scotch- 
Irish descent. The Greeleys were generally poor, but the 
Woodburn family were well-to-do farmers. 

At the time of his birth the parents of Horace Greeley were 
residing on a small and not fertile farm in Amherst. The farm 
was not yet paid for, and it required a constant struggle to 
provide for the family and lay up enough to meet the interest 
on the mortgage. Almost as soon as he was able to go about 
the fields, Horace was set to helping on the farm. His princi- 
pal employment was "picking stones," a labor with which New 
England farm lads are more familiar than they care to be, and 
all will doubtless endorse his opinion of it as expressed in after 
life. "Picking stones," he says in his autobiography, "is a 
never-ending labor on one of those New England farms. Pick 
as closely as you may, the next plowing turns up a fresh erup- 
tion of boulders and pebbles, from the size of a hickory nut to 
that of a tea-kettle ; and as this work is to be done mainly in 
March or April, when the earth is saturated with ice-cold water, 
if not also whitened with falling snow, youngsters soon learn 
to regard it with detestation." 

Horace did not take kindly to farm life. He learned to read 
before he could talk plainly, his mother being his teacher. 
She was a woman of abundant animal spirits, of strong good 
sense, and was an industrious reader. She dearly loved poetry 
and music, and had an inexhaustible fund of songs, ballads 
and stories, which she would repeat to her boy as she turned 
the spinning wheel or held him on her knee. Horace would 
Hsten to them with eagerness, and "they served," he says, "to 

(596) 




HORACE GREELEY. 



HORACE GREELEY. 597 

awaken in me a thirst for knowledge, and a lively interest in 
learning and history." When he was four years old he could 
read fluently and correctly any book in the language. When 
he was three years old he spent the winter with his mother's 
father at Londonderry, New Hampshire, and was sent to the 
district school. He continued to reside much with his grand- 
father during the next three years, and attended school during 
the greater part of this time. He learned rapidly, and was 
especially noted for his proficiency in spelling. He was not 
content with his lessons in school, but at his grandfather's 
house would take a book, lie down on the floor, and spell out 
the harder words. He was regularly sought out by the "spell- 
ing matches " of the neighborhood, and was a tower of strength 
to his side. The matches were generally held in the evening, 
and the little fellow found it hard to keep awake. He would 
doze away while the others were spelling, and when his turn 
came his companions would give him a shake to wake him. 
The blue eyes would open instantly, and he would spell his 
word in a bright, clear voice, and then drop off to sleep again. 

When he was six years old his father removed to Bedford, 
New Hampshire, and settled on a larger farm which he had 
agreed to work on shares. Horace was now recalled from his 
grandfather's, and for the next four years was kept at work on 
the farm, devoting to his schooling only such time as he was 
not engaged in labor. " Here," he says, " I first learned that 
this is a world of hard work. Often called out of bed at dawn 
to 'ride horse to plow' among the growing corn, potatoes, and 
hops, we would get as much plowed by nine to ten o'clock A. 
M., as could be hoed that day, when I would be allowed to 
start for school, where I sometimes arrived when the forenoon 
session was half through. In winter our work was lighter ; 
but the snow was often deep and drifted, the cold intense, the 
north wind piercing, and our clothing thin ; besides which, the 
term rarely exceeded, and sometimes fell short of two months." 

The only newspaper taken in his father's family was a weekly 
called "The Farmer's Cabinet," a poor affair, but still some- 
thing to let little Horace know that there was a great world 
beyond the gray New Hampshire hills, in which he must one 
day take his place. He read the paper with the eagerness with 



598 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

which he devoured everything of a literary nature, and it is 
possible that it aroused in him the determination to become a 
printer. It is said that while he was still at school at Bedford 
he w^as one day watching a blacksmith shoe a horse. The 
smith, who was a friend to the boy, observing his interest, said 
to him, "You had better come with me and learn the trade." 
" No," said Horace quickly, " I am going to be a printer." 

When Horace was not quite ten years old, his father lost his 
little property, and removed to West Haven, in Rutland county, 
Vermont, at the head of Lake Champlain. There, in 1821, the 
little family began life anew. For the next four or five years 
Horace worked hard and fared poorly, but was satisfied, since 
he was able to borrow books and newspapers, which he read 
with avidity. By gathering nuts and pitch pine roots for 
kindling, which he sold at the country store, and by "bee-hunt- 
ing," he managed to provide himself with a little pocket-money, 
which he regularly laid out in books. When he was eleven 
years old he heard that an apprentice was wanted in the print- 
ing office at Whitehall. He obtained his father's consent to 
apply for the place, and set out on foot for Whitehall, nine 
miles distant. He was rejected, however, on account of his 
extreme youth. West Haven was noted at this time for its 
dissipation. Horace was disgusted with the coarse, brutal 
sights which he beheld on every hand, and conceived that utter 
abhorrence of drinking which distinguished him through life. 

When he was fifteen years old, he came to the conclusion 
that it was time he was earning his own living. Seeing an 
advertisement for a printer's boy in the office of the Northern 
Spectator, published at East Poultney, Vermont, eleven miles 
from his home, he received his father's consent to apply for it. 
He obtained it, and was formally entered by his father, on the 
1 8th of April, 1826, as an apprentice in the Spectator office. 
He was to receive his board only for six months, and after that 
his board and forty dollars a year for clothing. Shortly after 
this Mr. Greeley removed his family to the town of Wayne, in 
Erie county, Pennsylvania. Horace remained four years in the 
Spectator office, working faithfully at his trade. He was kindly 
treated by his employers, but was kept very busy. He devoted 
his leisure time to reading and improvement, and became one 



HORACE GREELEY, 599 

of the leading members of the village debating society. He 
was very well read for a boy of his age, and expressed his opin- 
ions with independence and courtesy, and maintained them with 
firmness. He was frank and open, always good tempered, and 
was very popular. " He was never treated as a boy in the de- 
bating society," says one of his old friends, " but as a man and 
an equal ; and his opinions were considered with as much def- 
erence as those of the judge or the sheriff — more, I think." 

His little income of forty dollars a year was carefully hus- 
banded, and out of this he clothed himself and sent the re- 
mainder to his parents in Pennsylvania. 

In June, 1830, the office of The Spectator was closed, and 
Greeley was thrown out of employment. With his scanty 
wardrobe in his pockets, and but eleven dollars in his purse, he 
set out to see his parents, obtaining employment on the way 
at eleven dollars a month, in the office of a Democratic paper 
at Sodus, New York. Reaching home during the year, he 
obtained a place at fifteen dollars a month in the office of a 
newspaper published at Erie, Pennsylvania. He gave such 
satisfaction here that the proprietors offered him a partnership. 
He declined it, however, and wisely, for a dull season soon set 
in, and made a marked change for the worse in the affairs of 
the paper. 

He now determined to seek employment in New York. 
Dividing his earnings with his father, he set off for the great 
city, making the journey partly on foot, and partly by the canal 
and the Hudson River steamer. On the 17th of August, 1831, 
he landed in New York — poor, unknown, frail and boyish 
looking, and as awkward and verdant in appearance as can well 
be imagined. He had never seen a large city before, and was 
not a little awed and disheartened by the bustle and whirl and 
rush into which he was plunged. "I knew no human being," 
he says, "within two hundred miles, and my unmistakably 
rustic manner and address did not favor that immediate com- 
mand of remunerating employment, which was my most urgent 
need. However, the world was all before me; my personal 
estate, tied up in a pocket-handkerchief, did not at all encumber 
me; and I stepped lightly off the boat and away from the 
sound of the detested hiss of escaping steam, walking into and 



600 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

up Broad street, in quest of a boarding house." He found one 
at length on the North River side, and obtained board at ^2.50 
a week. As he had but ^10 with him, and no means of getting 
more, it was important for him to obtain work as soon as possi- 
ble. Having breakfasted, he at once set out, and during the 
next two days visited at least half the printing offices in the 
city. It was midsummer — a dull season — and his youth and 
rustic appearance were against him. When he applied at the 
office of the yoiirnal of Commerce, its editor bluntly told him 
he suspected him of being a runaway apprentice from some 
country office. 

Thoroughly disgusted and disheartened by his failures, Hor- 
ace resolved to leave New York the next day. On that day, 
however, he learned from some persons who chanced to visit 
his boarding place that a hand was wanted at John T. West's 
printing office, in Chatham street, and at once applied for the 
place and obtained it. The place was given to him simply 
because " no other printer who knew the city" would accept it. 
The "job" assigned him was a difficult one — the composition 
of a miniature New Testament, with numerous marginal refer- 
ences. No other compositor could be induced to work long 
at this job, and Horace had it nearly all to himself He perse- 
vered to the end, and completed it; but so difficult was the 
work that he could scarcely ever earn more than a dollar a 
day. When the task was finished Mr. West had no further 
use for him, and he was out of work for a fortnight. After 
several changes he entered the office of Porter's Spirit of the 
Times, a new sporting paper, where he was paid fair wages. 
He won the friendship of Mr. Francis V. Story, the foreman of 
the office, who shortly after induced him to enter into a part- 
nership with him in an office of their own. 

The new firm hired two rooms in a building at the south- 
east corner of Nassau and Liberty streets, and invested their 
whole means — less than ^200 — in printing material, to which 
they added other material to the amount of ^40, obtained on 
credit from Mr. George Bruce, the type founder. They took 
in such job printing as they could get, but their main depend- 
ence was the printing of " Sylvester's Bank Note Reporter," 
and the publishing of " The Morning Post," a daily penny 



HORACE GREELEY. 6oi 

paper, started by Dr. H. D. Shepard. The first number was 
issued January ist, 1833, but in less than a month it was a 
failure, and had involved its printers heavily. Fortunately for 
them, it was purchased by an Englishman, who conducted it 
for a brief period, and promptly paid his printer's bills. The 
money received from him was all that saved the young firm 
from bankruptcy. Its members worked hard, and were just 
beginning to get ahead, when Mr. Story was drowned, in June, 

1833- 
Mr. Jonas Winchester, a brother-in-law of Mr. Story, took 

his place in the firm, and by dint of close application and 
economy a fair and prosperous business was at length estab- 
lished. In March, 1834, Mr. Greeley and his partner began 
the publication of the New Yorker, a weekly paper, devoted to 
literature and the current news. Mr. Winchester attended to 
the business management of the paper, and Mr. Greeley was 
its sole editor. He conducted it with ability for seven years 
and a half In the spring of 1836 the partnership was dis- 
solved. Mr. Greeley took the New Yorker, but as it was con- 
ducted on the credit system it made little money after the panic 
of 1837, and in 1841 came to an end, with about ;^ 10,000 due 
to it by its subscribers, of which not a penny was ever paid. 

In 1838, while still conducting the New Yorker, Mr. Greeley 
undertook the editorship of a weekly campaign paper called TJie 
yeffcrsonian, published at Albany by the Executive Committee 
of the Whig party of the State of New York. The paper reached 
a circulation of 15,000 copies, and its editor was paid a salary 
of ;$i,ooo. In 1840, during the Harrison campaign, he pub- 
lished The Log Cabin, a campaign paper, the first number of 
which was issued on the 2d of May. It made an unexpected 
hit at the start, the first number attaining a sale of 48,000 cop- 
ies. The circulation ran up to 80,000 copies. It was Mr. Gree- 
ley's own property, and was a considerable pecuniary success. 
Although established only as a campaign paper, its 
publication was continued after the election had passed by, its 
character being changed from a political to a family newspaper. 
It had a prosperous career until 1842, when it was merged in 
the Weekly Tnbune. 

It had always been the dream of Horace Greeley's life to be 



602 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

at the head of a first-class daily newspaper in New York. He 
regarded himself now as in a condition to carry this plan into 
operation, and on the lOth of April, 1841, issued the first num- 
ber of the New York Tribune. It was a small sheet, and sold 
for one cent. It began its career with 600 subscribers, and a 
capital of ^1,000, borrowed money. It was issued from No. 30 
Ann street. The first edition was 5,000 copies, and Mr. Gree- 
ley has declared that he found considerable trouble in giving 
all the numbers away. It had a hard fight for existence at first. 
At the end of the first week its expenses were ^525, and its 
receipts $g2. Fortunately for it, the Sii/i, which sought to hold 
a monopoly of cheap journalism in New York, attempted to 
crush it. Greeley returned the Sim's attack with spirit, and 
" a very pretty quarrel" was soon in full progress between the 
two papers. The public began to take interest in it, and to es- 
pouse the cause of the Tribune, and by the end of the seventh 
week it was obliged to print an edition of 11,000 copies. Mr. 
Greeley was now obliged to obtain new presses and increase 
his office facilities. Advertisements came in with greater rapid- 
ity, and the paper began to show signs of permanence. Four 
months after the first number of the paper was issued, Mr. 
Thomas McElrath was induced to become a partner in the en- 
terprise. The business management of the paper passed into 
his hands, and Mr. Greeley was able to devote himself entirely 
to its editorial conduct. This admirable arrangement was a 
success from the first. The paper prospered, and at the end 
of its first year was established on a safe basis. In April, 1842, 
the Tribn)ie entered upon its second year, and its proprietors 
were enabled to accomplish the hazardous undertaking of more 
than doubling its size and increasing its price from one to two 
cents. Its success was even more rapid after than before these 
changes. Since then it has grown by degrees into its present 
size. 

Horace Greeley had now found his true sphere. He was at 
the head of a prosperous and growing daily paper, and was 
able to exercise the influence in the world which was the sum 
of his ambition. For the first eleven years of its existence 
the Tribune was a strictly party paper, devoted to the interests 
of the Whigs. This narrow field did not suit Mr. Greeley, and 



HORACE GREELEY. 603 

after the downfall of the Whig party in 1852, he launched out 
upon the broader and more perilous sea of independent jour- 
nalism. He aimed to make the Tribune a great, powerful and 
fearless organ oS. tlie right, the enemy of wrong and injustice in 
any form, the friend of the helpless and the defender of the 
oppressed. He wished to build up a sound, healthy tone in 
public opinion and public morals, and to do his share manfully 
in helping his country to achieve its high destiny. He was 
often mistaken in his views, but no man may question the 
purity of his motives. He was so honest and earnest, so open 
and ingenuous, that it was not possible for him to avoid mis- 
takes. His aspirations are thus eloquently stated by him in 
his autobiography: "Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; 
riches take wings ; the only earthly certainty is oblivion ; no 
man can foresee what a day may bring forth, while those who 
cheer to-day will often curse to-morrow; and yet I cherish the 
hope that the journal I projected and established will live and 
flourish long after I shall have moulded into forgotten dust, 
being guided by a larger wisdom, a more unerring sagacity to 
discern the right, though not by a more unfaltering readiness 
to embrace and defend it at whatever cost; and that the stone 
which covers my ashes may bear to future eyes the still intel- 
ligible inscription, ' Founder of tlie New York Tribune! " 

In 1848, Mr. Greeley was elected to Congress to fill a va- 
cancy. He served in that body from December ist, 1848, to 
March 4th, 1849. He failed to make any reputation in Con- 
gress, and after that time took no part in any deliberative as- 
sembly except the late Constitutional Convention of New 
York. His true force lay in the profession of his life. He 
was a born journalist, and as long as he adhered to that calling 
he was a successful man and a power in the land. 

Besides his editorial labors, Mr. Greeley wrote and published 
several works. His " Hints Towards Reform" appeared in 
1850, and his "Glances of Europe" in 185 1. In 1852, he 
completed Sargeant's unfinished " Life of Henry Clay." In 
1856 appeared his " History of the Struggle for Slavery Exten- 
sion or Restriction;" in 1859 his "Overland Journey to Cali- 
fornia;" in 1864, "The American Conflict," a history of the 
Civil War, his most elaborate work; and in 1869, his " Recol- 
lections of a Busy Life." 



604 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

In April, 185 1, Mr. Greeley made a voyage to England to 
witness the " World's Fair," and upon reaching London found 
he had been appointed a member of the jury on hardware, the 
duties of which position he discharged faithfully. During this 
visit he testified before a Committee of the House of Com- 
mons in favor of the repeal of the tax on advertisements and 
on all periodicals devoted to a dissemination of the current 
news of the day. He then made a hurried trip through a part 
of the Continent, and returned to New York about the middle 
of August. In 1856 he visited Europe a second time to attend 
the Paris Exposition. During his sojourn in Paris he was 
arrested upon the complaint of a sculptor who had had a 
statue, valued at ^2500, broken at the New York Crystal 
Palace, of which Mr. Greeley had been a director. The sculp- 
tor's object was to hold Mr. Greeley responsible for the loss of 
his property. Being a stranger and unable to procure bail, 
Mr. Greeley was committed to jail. His case was taken up at 
once by Mr. Mason, the American Minister, who represented 
to the French Government that the affairs of the Crystal Palace 
Company were in the hands of a receiver, and that Mr. Greeley 
could not, under the laws of New York, be held responsible 
for the sculptor's loss. Upon this understanding of the matter, 
Mr. Greeley was released. 

Upon the downfall of the Whig party, in November, 1852, 
the TriduJie, as we have said, ceased to be a party organ. This 
was a great relief to Mr. Greeley, whose natural independence 
had chafed sorely at the restraints of party discipline. He was 
free now to advocate what he believed to be right, not what 
was expedient merely. From his boyhood he had been an 
earnest sympathizer with the efforts to restrict the area of slav- 
ery, and the Tribime now became one of the leading anti-slav- 
ery journals of the country. It was one of the first to espouse 
the cause of the new Republican party, of which Mr. Greeley 
was one of the founders. Its course won it and its editor an 
influence and popularity in the Free States unequalled by that 
of any journal or editor in the Union ; and drew at the same 
time upon both the bitter hatred of the South. The power 
which thus passed into Mr. Greeley's hands was genuine. Dr, 
Brockett well says, "As editor of the New York Tribime, he 



HORACE GREELEY. 605 

vielded an influence infinitely greater than any Congressman, 
jovernor, Senator or President could ever hope to exercise, 
"rom a quarter to a half a million of men believed in Horace 
jreeley as religiously as they believed in their Bibles, and many 
)f them reverenced his opinions more than those of any other 
luman being. He was, in the Republican administration, and 
lad been for a dozen years and more, ' the power behind the 
hrone greater than the throne.' " He was aware of his power, 
md used it conscientiously for the ends he deemed the best. 

At the Chicago Convention of i860, the influence of Mr. 
jreeley was cast against Mr. Seward, and secured his defeat 
ind the nomination of Abraham Lincoln. The Tribune contrib- 
ited powerfully to the election of Mr. Lincoln, and gave his 
neasures a hearty support after his inauguration and the break- 
ng out of the Civil War. Mr. Greeley favored a vigorous prosecu- 
ion of the war, and upon the triumph of the government desired 
hat a generous and conciliatory course should be pursued 
;owards the South. It was his sincere desire to do everything 
n his power to heal the wounds of the war, and to assist in 
jringing back, if such a thing were possible, the brotherly feei- 
ng that had once existed between the North and the South. 

It was this desire that led him to endeavor to secure the re- 
ease of Jefferson Davis from his imprisonment, and to become 
3ne of his sureties when the fallen chief of the Southern Con- 
federacy was released on bail. This act, which he never re- 
7-retted, cost him a large share of his popularity in the North. 
He declared that he had saved the country from a national dis- 
grace, and maintained that it was a shame to punish one man 
for the acts of a whole section. 

Mr. Greeley's personal appearance was peculiar. He was 
careless as to outward appearance, but faultlessly neat in his 
habits. No one ever saw him with dirty linen, or with soiled 
outer clothing, except in muddy weather, when, in New York, 
even a Brummell must be content to be splashed with mud. 
His usual dress was a black frock coat, a white vest, and black 
pantaloons reaching to the ankle. His black cravat alone be- 
trayed his carelessness, and that only when it slipped off the 
collar and worked its way around to the side, as it had a habit 
of doing. He was five feet ten in height, and stout in propor- 



6o6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

tion. He was partly bald, and his hair was white. He had a 
light, pinkish complexion, small, sunken blue eyes, a well- 
shaped mouth and regular features. His beard was perfectly 
white, and was worn around the throat and under the chin. 
His hands were small and soft ; but his feet and legs were awk- 
ward and clumsy, and gave to him a peculiar shuffling gait in 
walking. His manner was abstracted, and when accosted sud- 
denly he would reply abruptly. His career was one of inces- 
sant labor, and it was no wonder that when he came to die he 
was utterly worn out. 

A warmer and more generous heart never beat in a human 
bosom. His sympathy with misfortune was as ready and as 
exquisite as a woman's. He could never turn a deaf ear to 
an appeal for aid, and he gave away large sums in charity every 
year. He was frequently imposed upon, but he said he thought 
it better to be deceived often than to turn away one really de- 
serving applicant. 

His sense of duty compelled him to oppose the Administra- 
tion of President Grant, and the Tribune, towards the close of 
Grant's first term, inaugurated a new movement, which resulted 
in the formation of the Liberal Republican party, composed of 
many of the founders of the old Republican party. In 1872 
this party nominated Mr. Greeley as its candidate for the Presi- 
dency, and in an evil hour for himself he accepted the nomi- 
nation. He was induced to take this step by his belief that his 
election would aid in bringing about a better state of feeling be- 
tween the North and the South. His nomination was endorsed 
by the Democratic party at its National Convention, and he 
received the support of his life-long political adversaries. His po- 
litical opponents assailed him with a systematic course of abuse 
and slander which astonished and shocked him. Many of his 
old friends deserted him, and joined in the warfare upon him. 
His sensitive nature suffered keenly from these attacks — all the 
more because he felt that he had not deserved them. The 
constant annoyance which he experienced at length began to 
affect his health. 

Just before the close of the campaign, his wife, to whom he 
was tenderly attached, died. She had long been a sufferer, and 
for the two weeks preceding her death Mr. Greeley abandoned 



HORACE GREELEY. 607 

everything, and devoted himself with unremitting care to her, 
rarely leaving her bedside, and neglecting in his anxiety to take 
proper rest. She died on the 30th of October, and Mr. Greeley, 
utterly unmanned by the blow, gave way to the most bitter 
grief He took no further interest in the political campaign, 
which resulted in his defeat, and it soon became evident that 
the excitement and annoyance of the campaign and his grief 
for his wife had unsettled his mind. His bodily strength failed 
rapidly, and symptons of insanity appeared. He was conveyed 
by his friends to a private asylum in Westchester County, where 
he grew rapidly worse, and died on the 29th of November, 
1872, in the sixty-second year of his age. 




WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD. 

WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD was born at Florida, in 
Orange County, New York, on the i6th of May, 1801. 
He was the son of Dr. Samuel S. Seward, a prominent citizen 
of New York, who was for seventeen years the Judge of the 
County Court of Orange. Young Seward was a bright and 
intelligent child, and learned rapidly at the country school at 
which he began his education. He made such progress that 
when he was but nine years old, his father sent him to the 
Farmers' Hall Academy at Goshen, the county seat. He spent 
several years there, and then returned to his native town, where 
he completed his preparation for college. In 18 16, at the age 
of fifteen, he entered Union College. He studied hard, and 
maintained a high standing in his class, excelling in moral 
philosophy, rhetoric and the classics. In 18 19 he entered the 
Senior Class, and during that year spent six months in the 
South teaching school. Later in the year he returned to col- 
lege and graduated with distinction. 

Having decided to adopt the law as his profession, Mr. Sew- 
ard, upon leaving college, entered the office of John Anthon, 
Esq., of New York, as a pupil. Somewhat later he returned 
to Orange County and completed his studies under John Duer 
and Ogden Hoffman. In January, 1822, he was admitted to 
the bar, and removing to Western New York located himself 
at Auburn, where he formed a law partnership with Judge John 
Miller, of that town. This was destined to become a closer 
tie, for two years later Mr. Seward married the Judge's young- 
est daughter. 

Mr. Seward devoted himself with great industry to his prac- 
tice, and soon found himself in possession of a large and 
lucrative business. He also built up a fine reputation as a 
learned counsel and eloquent speaker. He took naturally to 
politics, and attached himself to the old Republican party. 
The ability and enthusiasm with which he advocated the prin- 

( 608 ) 




WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 



WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD. 609 

ciples of this party, soon placed him in the ranks of its leaders 
in New York. In 1824, though but twenty-three years old, 
Mr. Seward was chosen to draw up the "Address to The Peo- 
ple," issued by the Republican Convention of Cayuga County. 
This address was an able exposure of the history and plans of 
the Albany Regency. In 1827 he warmly espoused the cause 
of Greece, then struggling against Turkey, and made a number 
of speeches in behalf of the patriot cause. In 1828 a Con- 
vention of the young men of New York was held at Utica in 
behalf of the election of John Quincy Adams to the Presi- 
dency, and was ably presided over by Mr. Seward. In the 
same year he was urged by his party to accept the nomination 
to Congress, but declined it. Mr. Adams was defeated, and 
the Democratic party triumphantly seated General Jackson in 
the Presidential chair. 

The triumph of the Democracy put an end to the National 
Republican party as a political organization, and secured, for a 
time, the triumph of the Albany Regency in New York. Mr. 
Seward at once connected himself with the Anti-Masonic 
party, as the only opposition in the State to the Regency. He 
was nominated by this party to the State Senate in 1830, and 
though his district had at the last election given a large Demo- 
cratic majority, was elected by a majority of two thousand over 
his Democratic competitor. He took his seat in the Senate 
during the ensuing winter, the youngest member of that body. 
The Senate was strongly Democratic, and party discipline was 
very rigid. Mr. Seward was looked up to by the small mi- 
nority as one of its leaders, and fully merited the distinction. 
He maintained a vigorous opposition to the ruling party, spoke 
often and ably, and advocated unceasingly the series of reforms 
which did so much to enhance the prosperity of New York. 
Among other measures he favored the repeal of the laws pre- 
scribing imprisonment for debt, the extension of the suffrage, 
the inauguration of the free school system upon a better basis, 
and the assistance of the State to the Erie Railway. 

In the summer of 1833, ^^- Seward made a brief visit to 
Europe for rest and pleasure. During his absence he corres- 
ponded regularly with the Albany " Evening Journal." His 
letters were widely read and won him considerable credit 
39 



6lO AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Returning in the fall of 1833, he was in his place at the open- 
ing of the Senate in the winter of 1833-4. 

The controversy over the National Bank in 1832 gave rise 
to the Whig party, with which Mr. Seward soon united him- 
self His influence in this organization was very great from 
the first, and in the fall of 1834, he was nominated as the Whig 
candidate for Governor of New York. His opponent was 
William L. Marcy. Though Mr. Seward ran ahead of his 
ticket in every county in the State, he was defeated, and Mr. 
Marcy was chosen Governor by a decided majority. In 1838 
the Whigs again nominated Mr. Seward for Governor, and 
elected him by a majority of ten thousand. He was reelected 
by about the same majority in 1840. 

It is admitted, even by his enemies, that he made an excel- 
lent Governor. During his term of office, imprisonment for 
debt was abolished, and various reforms were affected in the 
administration of justice in the State, in the banking system, 
in the management of the prisons, and in the election laws. 
The Erie Canal was enlarged during this period. While he 
was Governor of New York, a number of colored sailors on 
vessels trading between New York and the ports of Virginia 
and Georgia, were charged with abducting slaves from those 
States. The rendition of the sailors was demanded of Governor 
Seward, but he refused to comply with the demand, and sup- 
ported his refusal by an argument of great ability. A little 
later the Democrats secured a majority in the Legislature of 
New York, and passed resolutions denouncing the course of 
Governor Seward, who was requested to transmit the resolu- 
tions to the Governor of Virginia. He declined to do so, and 
maintained with firmness his refusal to give up the negroes. 
Another instance of his firmness was given in the famous Mc- 
Leod case. Alexander McLeod, a British subject, residing in 
Canada, boasted, in 1840, that he had been engaged in the 
burning of the steamer Caroline, in the Canadian rebellion of 
1837, and had killed the American who was shot in the conflict 
which occurred at the time. Shortly afterwards he visited the 
State of New York, and was arrested upon a charge of murder 
by the authorities of that State. The British Government de- 
manded of the President of the United States the unconditional 



WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD. 6X1 

surrender of McLeod, on the ground that he had merely- 
obeyed the orders of his government, and was not responsible 
for his acts. The General Government thereupon demanded 
of the State of New York the surrender of McLeod to the 
Federal authorities. Governor Seward refused to comply with 
this demand, and declared that as the murder for which the 
prisoner was indicted had been committed within the jurisdic- 
tion of the State of New York, he must submit to be tried 
for it under the laws of the State. The British Minister at 
Washington threatened loudly in the name of his Government, 
and the administration of President Tyler threw all its weight 
in favor of the surrender of the prisoner. Governor Seward 
was firm, however. McLeod was brought to trial, but as he 
succeeded in proving that he was not present in the affair of the 
Caroline, he was acquitted and released. The conflict between 
the Federal and State authorities led to the passage of a law 
by Congress providing for the trial of similar offences before 
the United States Courts. 

In January, 1843, Governor Seward, having declined a " third 
term," withdrew from public life, and for the next six years 
devoted himself to his practice. His business during this 
period lay chiefly in the higher courts of the State, and in the 
District and Supreme Courts of the United States. He was 
engaged in a large number of patent cases, in which he was 
generally successful, and which brought him a great increase 
of reputation and a large income, and placed him among the 
leading lawyers of the Union. He was a man of generous 
sympathy, and was always ready to advise or to defend the 
unfortunate and oppressed without any reward but the approval 
of his own conscience. A notable instance of this occurred 
when he was at the height of his fame as a lawyer. A negro 
named Freeman had murdered a family named Van Ness, in 
Orange county, New York. There was a general desire that 
the murderer should receive the full penalty of the law. Mr. 
Seward was applied to to defend the man, and upon his first 
interview with him was convinced that the poor fellow was 
hopelessly insane and was more deserving of kind treatment 
than of death. He was ridiculed and roundly denounced for 
undertaking the defence of the negro ; but stood by him until 



6l2 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the man died. An autopsy was then held, and showed con- 
clusively to the satisfaction of even the most prejudiced, that 
Mr. Seward's belief in the negro's insanity was well-founded, 
and "that his course had been as wise as it was confessedly 
humane and generous." He would not consent to receive any 
compensation for his services in this case. 

Though he held no official position during the six years fol- 
lowing his retirement from the Gubernatorial chair, Mr. Seward 
did not cease to take an active interest in and exercise a con- 
trolling influence upon the politics of his native State. He fav- 
ored the Tariff of 1842 ; but opposed the annexation of Texas 
and the Mexican War. In 1846 he aided in securing the call- 
ing of a State Convention for the revision of the Constitution 
of the State. During this period he delivered two noted eulo- 
gies — one at New York, in September, 1847, "On the Life and 
Character of Daniel O'Connell ;" the other in April, 1848, be- 
fore the Legislature of New York, on the death of John Quincy 
Adams. He supported General Taylor for the Presidency in 
1848, and " stumped" the States of New York, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio and Massachusetts in his behalf 

Early in 1849 Mr. Seward was elected to the Senate of the 
United States. During the short administration of President 
Taylor he was in intimate confidential relations with the Presi- 
dent, and was one of the recognized leaders of his party in the 
Senate. 

For many years Mr. Seward had been noted as one of the 
boldest and most uncompromising leaders of the anti-slavery 
party. He was utterly opposed to allowing slavery to increase 
its area by one foot, as he believed that, by confining it to the 
States in which it already existed, it would eventually die out. 
He denied Mr. Calhoun's doctrine that the Constitution of its 
own force established slavery in the Territories, and claimed 
that freedom was the natural condition of those Territories, and 
that Congress had no power to legislate slavery into them. 
When the Compromise Measures of 1850 were brought before 
Congress, he opposed them with all the eloquence he was mas- 
ter of He was opposed to any Compromise with slavery, 
and was determined that it should never gain a foot of fresh 
territory if he could help it. His opposition to the Com- 



WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD, 613 

promise arrayed him against the Administration, and against 
the leaders of his own party. In a speech in the Senate on 
the nth of March, 1850, he gave utterance to the following 
sentiments : " We hold no arbitrary authority over anything, 
whether acquired lawfully or seized by usurpation. The Con- 
stitution regulates our stewardship ; the Constiution devotes 
the domain to union, to justice, to defence, to welfare and 
to liberty. But there is a Higher Laiv than the Constitution, 
which regulates our authority over the domain, and devotes it 
to the same noble purpose." This bold enunciation of the doc- 
trine that there was a "Higher Law than the Constitution," 
astounded the whole country. It was fiercely discussed by the 
opposite parties, and was finally made by the extreme anti- 
slavery party the justification of its warfare upon slavery. It 
marked a new stage in the contest between freedom and slavery. 

Mr. Seward favored the passage of a Homestead Law, and 
did as much as any man in Congress to secure the success of 
that measure some years later. He was one of the earliest 
friends of the Pacific Railway, and was generally found on the 
side of progress and reform. In the great struggle over the 
Kansas and Nebraska Bill he won especial distinction by his 
eloquent and bold opposition to the attempt to force slavery 
upon those Territories. During his whole career in Congress, 
there was scarcely a debate of importance in which he did not 
take part. His speeches were marked by a force of reasoning 
and an eloquence that won the admiration of even his political 
adversaries. By the South he was regarded as the ablest leader 
of the Free Soil party, and consequently came in for an abun- 
dant share of the hatred of that section. In the Free States his 
popularity was very great, and he was considered one of the 
first statesmen of his time. Personally, Mr. Seward was very 
popular among the Southern Senators in Congress, many of 
whom were his warm friends. 

In spite of his activity in Congress, Mr. Seward found time 
to give to other pubhc services. In the summer of 1854 he 
delivered the annual oration before the Literary Societies of 
Yale College, and in October of that year argued the celebrated 
" McCormick Reaper Case" in the United States Circuit Court, 
one of the most famous causes in our annals. 



6l4 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

In February, 1855, Mr. Seward was returned to the Senate 
for a second term of six years, in spite of a most determined 
opposition by the Democratic and Know-nothing parties. In 
December, 1855, he dehvered the annual address at Plymouth, 
Massachusetts, in commemoration of the Landing of the Pil- 
grim Fathers. He took a leading part in the Thirty-Fourth 
Congress in the debates on the Kansas troubles, and in the 
Presidential campaign of 1856 took the stump in support of 
Fremont and Dayton. He had been one of the founders of the 
Republican party, and had rendered it valuable service since its 
organization. His efforts on this occasion were unsuccessful, 
and the campaign resulted in the election of Mr. Buchanan. 

Upon the reassembling of Congress in December, 1856, Mr. 
Seward was recognized as the leader of the Republican party 
in the Senate. He spoke often during the session, and upon 
a variety of subjects. He advocated the claims of the survi- 
vors of the Revolution; the extension of assistance by the 
Government to the Atlantic Telegraph; the construction of a 
telegraph line to California; the establishment of an overland 
mail route, and the construction of a railway to the Pacific. He 
delivered an able speech in review of the Dred Scott decision 
of the Supreme Court, and advocated a revision of the Fed- 
eral Courts in order to meet the wants of the newer portions 
of the Union. He was especially active during the sessions of 
the Thirt}^-fifth Congress, and spoke on every important ques- 
tion, and upon many of the minor ones that came before that 
body. He manfully opposed the effort of the Administration 
to force the Lecompton Constitution upon Kansas, and de- 
fended the right of the people of that Territory to form their 
institutions to suit themselves. He advocated the increase of 
the army in Utah and the suppression of the Mormon Rebel- 
lion of 1857. He supported the bills for the admission of 
Minnesota and Oregon into the Union; and urged upon the 
Administration the duty of demanding reparation for the out- 
rages of British cruisers upon American vessels in the Gulf 
of Mexico. During the recess of Congress he argued the 
famous "Albany Bridge Case" before the Supreme Court of 
the United States. His speeches during this trial exhibited a 
remarkable knowledge of Constitutional law and the Uws of 
navigation. 



WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD. 615 

In the summer and fall of 1858, Mr. Seward took an active 
part in the canvass which preceded the elections for State offi- 
cers and members of Congress. He made a number of speeches 
during this campaign, some of which attracted the attention of 
the whole country by the boldness of their declarations. His 
speech at Rochester was the most marked of these. In it he 
reviewed the conflict between the free and the slave systems 
of labor in this country. "Shall I tell you," he said, "what 
this collision means? Those who think that it is accidental, 
unnecessary, the work of interested or fanatical agitators, and 
therefore ephemeral, mistake the case altogether. It is an 
irrepressible conflict between opposing and enduring forces, and 
it means that the United States must and will, sooner or later, 
become either entirely a slaveholding nation, or entirely a free 
labor nation." Mr. Seward's words were bitterly denounced 
at the time by the Democratic party as incendiary and revolu- 
tionary, and many of the most conservative men of the coun- 
try regarded them as the declaration of a partisan; but they 
were simply the utterance of the convictions of a statesman, 
who had learned the lesson of all history, that slavery and 
free labor cannot exist in the same political system. 

In 1859 Mr. Seward made a second visit to Europe, to seek 
the rest his constant activity had rendered necessary. He was 
absent some months. 

In the spring of i860 the National Convention of the Repub- 
lican party met at Chicago to nominate a candidate for the 
Presidency. Mr. Seward was by common consent the first 
man in the party, and it was generally supposed that he would 
receive the nomination. He had to encounter the opposition 
of Horace Greeley, the powerful editor of the New York Tribune, 
with whom he had quarreled. The friends of Mr. Seward did 
not attach much importance to this opposition at first, and on 
the first ballot their candidate received 173^ votes, to 102 cast 
for Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Greeley now threw all his influence on 
the side of Mr. Lincoln, and the second ballot stood Seward, 
1843/^, Lincoln, 181. On the third ballot Mr. Seward's vote 
tell ofl" very largely, and Mr. Lincoln received 230^ votes, or 
within one and a half of a nomination. A change of four votes 
in Lincoln's favor was at once made, and secured him the nom- 



6l6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ination. Mr. Seward accepted the decision with characteristic 
philosophy, and supported the RepubHcan ticket in the canvass 
of i860. 

Upon the inauguration of President Lincoln, Mr. Seward 
was appointed Secretary of State, which office he at once 
accepted. During the exciting period which had intervened 
between the election and inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, he had 
advocated a firm and decided course on the part of Mr. Buch- 
anan and his Cabinet, but without success. He was now pre- 
pared to support with all his energy the measures of President 
Lincoln for the preservation of the Union. His influence with 
the President was very great, and he was Lincoln's most confi- 
dential and trusted adviser. Though not so thoroughly the 
leading spirit of the Administration as was believed at the time, 
he was the most influential member of the Cabinet. He pos- 
sessed the entire confidence of President Lincoln, and was 
responsible for many of the acts of the Administration. 

Mr. Seward remained at the head of the Cabinet during the 
whole of Mr. Lincoln's Presidency. His conduct of the State 
Department was admirable and statesmanlike as regarded the 
intercourse of the country with foreign nations. At the outset 
of the war the situation of this country was delicate and even 
critical. Great Britain and France were eager spectators of our 
struo-crle, and were more than half inclined to intervene in favor 
of the South. France was perfectly prepared for such a step, 
and was deterred from it only by the hesitation of England. 
Mr. Seward's judicious course did more than anything else to 
increase this hesitation and so prevent intervention. His skill- 
ful diplomacy was strikingly manifested in the settlement of the 
Trent affair, which came very near embroiling the United States 
in war with Great Britain. 

Mr. Seward did not give entire satisfaction by his adminis- 
tration of his office, however. The freedom with which he used 
the power of arbitrary arrest amounted sometimes almost to 
recklessness, and was severely condemned by many of the 
staunchest supporters of the Union. Not even the exceptional 
state of affairs caused by a great civil war can entirely excuse 
him for this abuse of power. He was willing to recognize the 
Mexican Empire, notwithstanding the fact that Congress had 



WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD. 617 

pledged the moral support of this country to Juarez and the 
Republican cause. These things and other measures of the 
Secretary gave so much dissatisfaction that the National Re- 
publican Convention, in nominating Mr. Lincoln for a second 
term in 1864, requested him to reconstruct his Cabinet. Mr. 
Seward at once offered his resignation to the President, but 
Mr. Lincoln, who knew that in spite of Mr. Seward's faults he 
could not be spared from the Cabinet, refused to accept it. His 
own confidence in him never wavered, and after his second in- 
auguration he continued him at the head of the Cabinet. 

Early in April, 1865, while driving through Washington, Mr, 
Seward was thrown from his carriage and seriously injured. 
His arm was broken and both sides of his lower jaw were frac- 
tured. He was conveyed to his residence, and for some days 
it was believed that his hurts would prove fatal. While lying 
in this helpless condition he came near falling a victim to the 
conspiracy which resulted in the murder of President Lincoln. 
One of the conspirators was assigned the duty of assassinating 
the Secretary of State as he lay helpless on his sick bed. He 
forced his way into the chamber about the same moment that 
the fatal shot was fired at Mr. Lincoln, and severely wounded 
Frederick Seward, who, unarmed, sought to defend his father. 
The male nurse was then struck down, and the assassin sprang 
to the bedside, stabbed the helpless Secretary three times in 
the face, and then fled, supposing he had killed him. These 
wounds seriously retarded the recovery of Mr. Seward, but he 
rallied, and after some weeks was on his feet again. The as- 
sassin was captured and convicted of his crime, and was hanged. 

President Johnson, upon succeeding Mr. Lincoln, retained 
Mr. Seward at the head of the Cabinet, and during the next 
four years the latter sustained the policy of President Johnson. 
He did not approve of the extreme measures of Congress 
towards the Southern States, but believed that a more gener- 
ous policy would bring about more quickly the reconstruction 
of the Union. He therefore sustained the President in his 
quarrel with Congress, and in doing so alienated many of his 
oldest and best friends, who thought he should have taken the 
side of Congress in this quarrel. He was subjected to a great 
deal of misrepresentation and abuse, w^hich pained him very 



6l8 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

much, but he refused to offer any explanation or justification 
of his course, trusting to time to vindicate both his motives 
and his conduct.^ | 

On the 29th of March, 1867, Mr. Seward brought to a close 
the negotiations he had been for some time carrying on with 
Russia for the purchase of her North American territory. By 
the treaty concluded on this day, all of Russian America was 
ceded to the United States for the sum of ^7,200,000 in gold. 
The treaty was ratified by the Senate on the 9th of April, and 
the new Territory was organized in 1868 under the name of 
Alaska. The purchase was not popular ; whether it will prove 
a valuable acquisition to the United States remains to be seen. 
Up to the present time the country has not derived any benefit 
from it. Mr. Seward next proposed to purchase the Danish 
West India islands of St. Thomas and Santa Cruz, but his pro- 
ject was so warmly opposed by Congress and by the country 
at large that he was obliged to abandon it. 

1 At the commencement of the war Mr. Seward was accused by the ultra anti- 
slavery men of being willing to sacrifice the cause of freedom to his desire to save 
the Union. He felt this charge very keenly, but refused to make any defence. To 
one of his most intimate friends he wrote, in reply to a letter upon this subject, the 
following : 

" Washington, February 2jd, 1861. 

"My Dear Sir: — The American people in our day have two great interests — 
one, the ascendency of freedom over slavery; the other, the integrity of the Union. 
The slavery interest has derived its whole political power from bringing the latter 
object in antagonism with the former. Twelve years ago freedom was in danger, 
and the Union was not. I spoke then so singly for freedom that short-sighted men 
inferred that I was disloyal to the Union. I endured the reproach without com- 
plaining : now I have my vindication. To-day, practically, freedom is not in dan- 
ger, and the Union is, "With the loss of union all would be lost. With the attempt 
to maintain union by civil war wantonly brought on, there would be danger of 
reaction against the Administration, charged with the preservation of both freedom 
and the Union. Now, therefore, I speak singly for union, striving, if possible, to 
save it peaceably ; if not possible, then to cast the responsibility upon the party of 
Slavery. For this singleness of speech, I am now suspected of infidelity to free- 
dom. In this case, as in the other, I refer myself, not to the men of my time, but 
to the judgment of history. I thank you, my dear sir, for having anticipated what 
I think history will pronounce. 

" But do not publish or show this letter. Leave me to be misunderstood. I am 
not impatient. I write only to you because I would not be, nor seem to be, 
ungrateful. Faithfully yours, Wm. H. Seward. 

" Rev. Dr. yoseph P. Thompson.^'' 



WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD. 619 

On the 4th of March, 1869, Mr. Seward withdrew from pubhc 
life and returned to his home at Auburn. A few months later 
he made a visit to Mexico.' He was warmly received by the 
Mexican Government and people, who forgot his former will- 
ingness to recognize Maximilian in their gratitude for the vigor 
with which he finally conducted the negotiation which resulted 
in the withdrawal of the French troops from Mexico by the 
Emperor Napoleon at the demand of the United States. From 
Mexico he went to California, and visited the prominent points 
on the Pacific coast. In August, 1869, having been joined by 
several members of his family, he sailed from San Francisco 
to Japan, and successively visited that country, China, India, 
Palestine, Egypt, and the principal countries of Europe. He 
was everywhere received with distinguished honors, for the able 
statesmanship he had displayed in his conduct of the intercourse 
of this country with foreign nations during the Civil War was 
more highly appreciated abroad than at home. He returned 
home in October, 1871, and began the preparation of a narra- 
tive of his "Travels Around the World." While engaged in 
this task, he was seized with his last illness and died at his 
home in Auburn, on the lOth of October, 1872. 

The vindication for which he looked has come in part 
already. The American people are coming to appreciate his 
great services as they never did during his life, and now that 
the passions of the times of which he formed a part are subsid- 
ing, are beginning to do justice to the motives that guided him 
throug-hout his eventful career. 




SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

AQUILA CHASE, the ancestor of the subject of this me- 
moir, was born in Cornwall, England, in i6i8. While a 
young man he emigrated to America, and settled in the town 
of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Dudley Chase, the fourth in 
descent from this founder of the family in America, obtained 
the grant of a considerable tract of land on the Connecticut 
River, within the limits of New Hampshire, and settled upon 
it. He named the settlement Cornish, in memory of his descent 
from a Cornishman, and the town still bears the name. He 
was the father of several sons, all of whom became noted men. 
One of them was Philander Chase, the Episcopal Bishop of 
Ohio ; another was D. P. Chase, a Senator from Vermont, and 
Chief Justice of that State. A third was Ithamar Chase, the 
father of the subject of this memoir. He was a man of great 
stature, of noble and commanding presence, and was noted for 
the dignity and courtesy of his manner. He was one of the 
best-known men in his State. He accumulated a large fortune 
by his industry in business, but took but little share in public 
life. He was a justice of the peace, and for many years served 
as a member of the Executive Council of the State. He lost 
his property by the commercial disasters which followed in the 
train of the second war with England, and in 1 8 1 5 removed to 
Keene, New Hampshire, where he died suddenly in 18 17. 

Salmon Portland Chase, the second son of Ithamar Chase, 
was born at Cornish, New Hampshire, on the 13th of January, 
1808. He was nine years old at the time of his father's death. 
His mother was a woman of Scotch descent, and was possessed 
of the thrift and energy of her race. Though but little was left 
to her out of the wreck of her husband's fortune, she made the 
best use of that little, and managed her slender resources with 
such good judgment that she was able to keep her family in 
comparative comfort, and maintain a respectable position for 
them. Salmon received his first instruction from her, and was 

(620) 




SALMON P. CHASE. 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 621 

afterwards sent to the public school at Keene, from which he 
passed to a boarding school at Windsor, Vermont, kept by- 
one of his father's friends. He learned rapidly, and made great 
progress in Latin, Greek, and Mathematics. In the spring of 
1820, Bishop Chase wrote to his sister-in-law, offering to re- 
ceive Salmon into his own family, and educate him. Mrs. 
Chase readily accepted the offer, and in the summer of 1820, 
Salmon set out on the then long and toilsome journey to Ohio. 

Bishop Chase resided at that time at Worthington, in the 
interior of Ohio, and upon reaching Cleveland, Salmon was 
obliged to remain nearly a month with a friend of his uncle, 
until he could find an opportunity of completing his journey. 
At length two theological students came along on their way to 
Worthington, and took him in charge. In their company he 
made the long journey through what was then a wild and al- 
most unbroken country, and reached his uncle in safety. 

Bishop Chase set his nephew to earning his living as soon as 
he entered his family. He was put to work on the farm, and 
assigned the hard and menial duties of "chore boy," or boy ol 
all work. He was kept so busy with these labors that his 
studies were seriously interrupted, and he was obliged to study 
harder than would otherwise have been necessary, in order to 
keep up with his class. He did keep up with it, however, and 
in 1 82 1 was the Greek Orator at the commencement exercises 
of the Bishop's school. He also exhibited great proficiency in 
composition and the English branches. One of his school- 
mates has given us this picture of him in his schoolboy days : 
'Never have I known a purer or more virtuous-minded lad than 
he was. He had an extreme aversion to anything dishonora- 
ble or vicious. He was industrious and attentive to business. 
Laboring on the farm of his uncle, he missed many recitations, 
and had but limited chances for study; yet, having a natural 
fondness for books, he was surpassed by no one of his age in 
the school. He had little regard for his personal appearance, 
or, indeed, for anything external. His mind appeared to be 
directed to what was right, regardless of the opinions of others." 

In 1823 Bishop Chase was elected to the Presidency of the 
College at Cincinnati, and accepted it. Salmon went with his 
uncle's family to Cincinnati, and there found his position very 



622 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

much bettered, as he was released from the hard labors of the 
farm, and was able to give more time to his studies. He en- 
tered the Freshman Class of the College, and had reached the 
Sophomore Class, when the Bishop resigned the Presidency of 
the College, in August, 1823, to devote himself to the task of 
establishing Kenyon College, which owes its existence and 
prosperity to him. This put an end to Salmon's studies, and 
as the Bishop soon sailed for England to seek the funds with 
which to found his new school, Salmon was obliged to return 
to his home in New Hampshire. He made a large part of the 
journey on foot, and reached Keene in the fall of 1823. He 
obtained the position of teacher in the public school, which he 
held for a short while, and then entered the Academy at Roy- 
alton, Vermont, to prepare for college. He spent a few months 
at this school, and in 1824 entered the Junior Class at Dart- 
mouth College. He made the best use of his time at this in- 
stitution, and in 1826 graduated, the eighth in his class. 

After leaving college, young Chase repaired to Washington 
City and applied to his uncle, then a Senator from Vermont, to 
obtain for him a clerkship under the Government. The Sena- 
tor, who had formed quite a favorable opinion of his nephew's 
capabilities, told the young man that he would willingly give 
him the money to buy a pickaxe and a spade, that he might 
earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, but that nothing would 
induce him to ruin his nephew's whole future by helping him 
to a Government office. Young Chase therefore opened a 
school in Washington, and among his pupils were sons of 
Henry Clay, William Wirt and other distinguished public men. 
The little leisure time that remained to him after his school 
hours were over, he devoted to the study of the law, under 
William Wirt, then the brilliant Attorney-General of the United 
States. He continued his school until 1829, when, being of 
age, and having completed his legal studies, he closed it, and 
was admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia in Febru- 
ary, 1830. 

Mr. Chase had no idea of commencing his practice in Wash- 
ington, but had from the first determined to locate himself in 
Cincinnati. Early in March, 1 830, he set out for Ohio, and 
upon reaching Cincinnati lost no time in getting to work. 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 623 

Shortly after his arrival there he formed a partnership with Ed- 
ward King, Esq., son of Rufus King, a Senator of the United 
States from New York. This connection was soon dissolved, 
and in 1833 ^^- Chase formed a new partnership with Mr. 
Caswell, an established and prosperous member of the Cincin- 
nati bar. The young lawyer slowly built up a reputation and 
a practice. While still struggling with fortune he prepared a 
compilation of the Statutes of Ohio, prefaced with a brief his- 
tory of the State, and enriched with numerous notes. This 
work, when published, was comprised in three large octavo 
volumes, and is a monument to the industry and skill of the 
young advocate. It was a much-needed work, and quickly 
took the place of all other collections of the Ohio statutes. Its 
excellence was generally admitted, and it has ever since been 
regarded by the courts of the State as the highest authority 
upon the matters whereof it treats. It won for Mr. Chase a 
high reputation among his professional brethren, and was one 
of the causes of his appointment in the spring of 1834 to the 
position of Solicitor of the Bank of the United States in Cincin- 
nati. Shortly afterwards he was placed in charge of the busi- 
ness of another of the city banks, and his practice increased so 
rapidly that he was soon regarded as one of the most prosper- 
ous lawyers of Cincinnati. In 1837 he dissolved his partner- 
ship with Mr. Caswell, and a little later formed a new one with 
a Mr. Ellis. 

In 1836 he took the first step in the great service he was to 
render to the cause of freedom. In that year the office of" the 
Philanthropist," a free soil paper, published by James G. Bir- 
ney, was attacked by a mob of sympathizers with slavery, and 
was literally gutted ; its types were thrown into the street, and 
its presses destroyed. But for the prompt and courageous in- 
terference of Mr. Chase, who organized and led a party of law 
abiding citizens to the rescue, Birney would have been mur- 
dered by the excited mob. Mr. Chase had always disapproved 
of slavery, and now began to take an active part in opposition 
to it. In 1837 he defended gratuitously a slave woman who 
was claimed as a fugitive from service under the law of 1793. 
In his argument in this case he denied the right of Congress to 
delegate to the officials of the several States the power to ap- 



624 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

prehend and restore fugitive slaves to their owners. This 
position was maintained with great force, and was subsequently 
endorsed by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
States. He also held that the law of 1793 was not warranted 
by the Constitution, and was therefore void. The people of 
Cincinnati at that time were largely in sympathy with the insti- 
tution of slavery, and Mr. Chase's defence of this slave woman, 
which was unsuccessful, was regarded with general disfavor, 
and was looked upon by his friends as a mistake. As he was 
leaving the court room he heard a prominent citizen remark to 
a companion, " There goes a promising young man who has 
just ruined himself." 

In 1837 James G. Birney was tried before the Supreme Court 
of Ohio, for harboring a fugitive slave. Mr. Chase was his 
counsel, basing his defence on the broad ground that slavery 
was a local institution, and depended for its existence and pro 
tection upon the legislation of the States which fostered it, but 
that it had no existence beyond the limits of these States, and 
that when a slave was brought by his master into a Free State, 
he was de facto et de jure free. He was also counsel for the ac- 
cused in several other important fugitive slave cases, in the next 
two or three years, and greatly added to his professional repu- 
tation, and became known to the whole country as one of the 
leading opponents of slavery. 

Up to this time Mr. Chase had not engaged in the political 
controversies of the day. In the campaign of 1840, he took 
a more active part, and gave his support to General Harrison 
for the Presidency. Soon after the accession of Mr. Tyler to 
the Presidency, Mr. Chase became convinced that the Whig 
party would do nothing for the anti-slavery cause, and that in 
order to accomplish their ends the anti-slavery men must 
organize themselves into a distinct political party. He set to 
work to accomplish this in Ohio, and in 1841 induced others 
to join him in calling a State Convention of the opponents of 
slavery. The Convention met in December, organized the 
" Liberal party" of Ohio, and nominated a candidate for Gov- 
ernor. They failed to elect him. 

In 1843 Mr. Chase was sent by the Liberal party as one of 
its delegates to the National Liberty Convention which met at 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE, 625 

Buffalo. He was one of the Committee on Resolutions of this 
Convention. A resolution was offered to the Committee, call- 
ing upon the opponents of slavery " to regard and treat the 
third clause of the Constitution, whenever applied to the case 
of a fugitive slave, as utterly null and void, and consequently 
as forming no part of the Constitution of the United States, 
whenever we are called upon or sworn to support it." Mr. 
Chase denounced this resolution as infamous, and procured its 
rejection by the Committee. At a subsequent period of his 
life, when a Senator of the United States, he was taunted by 
Senator Butler, of South Carolina, with being the author of 
this resolution. He replied indignantly, " I never proposed the 
resolution ; I never would propose or vote for such a resolution. 
I hold no doctrine of mental reservation; every man, in my 
judgment, should speak just as he thinks, keeping back nothing, 
here or elsewhere." 

Mr. Chase labored actively in the effort to build up a strong 
anti-slavery party in Ohio, and many of the most important 
documents of that party were from his pen. He issued the 
call for the Free Soil Convention of 1848, which met at Buffalo, 
New York, and nominated Martin Van Buren for the Presi- 
dency of the United States. During all this time he carried 
on an extensive law practice, and was concerned in several im- 
portant cases which grew out of the war against slavery. He 
was associated with Mr. Seward in the defence of John Van 
Zandt, who was tried before the Supreme Court of the United 
States for aiding in the escape of certain slaves from their mas- 
ters. He argued with great force that " under the ordinance 
of 1787, no fugitives from service could be reclaimed from 
Ohio, unless there had been an escape from one of the original 
States; that it was the clear understanding of the framers of 
the Constitution, and of the people who adopted it, that slav- 
ery was to be left exclusively to the disposal of the several 
States, without sanction or support from the National Govern- 
ment; and that the clause of the Constitution relative to per- 
sons held to service was one of compact between the States, 
and conferred no power of legislation on Congress, having been 
transferred from the ordinance of 1787, in which it conferred no 
power on the Confederation and was never understood to con- 
fer any." 
40 



626 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Mr. Chase had now been, for some years, the recognized 
leader of the anti-slavery party of Ohio, and had the satisfac- 
tion of seeing his views gradually adopted by the better part 
of the people of the State. He did not propose to make any 
violent attack upon the institution of slavery in the States in 
which it then existed. He meant to " use all Constitutional 
and honorable means to effect the extinction of slavery in the 
respective States, and its reduction to its constitutional limits 
in the United States." He advocated an uncompromising re- 
sistance to the extension of slavery into any part of the Union 
in which it did not already exist, and denied the power of 
Congress to legislate slavery into any of the Territories, main- 
taining that freedom was the normal condition of the Terri- 
tories. He urged these views upon the people of Ohio with 
such force that they were generally adopted by them without 
respect to party. The Liberal party having ceased to exist, 
Mr. Chase, after the defeat of Mr. Van Buren and the election 
of President Taylor, gave his support to the policy and candi- 
dates of the Democratic party in Ohio, which at that time 
united with him in his opposition to the extension of slavery. 
He declared, however, that he would break with it whenever it 
should transfer its support to the side of slavery. With this 
clear understanding of his position, he was elected by the Ohio 
Legislature, on the 22d of February, 1849, to the Senate of 
the United States. He received the entire Democratic vote, 
and was supported by many of the Free Soil Whigs in the 
Legislature. 

Mr. Chase took his seat in the Senate at the opening of the 
session of 1849-50. The Compromise Measures of 1850 con- 
stituted the all-absorbing question of this session. Mr. Chase 
opposed the Compromise, as he was not willing to make any 
concession to slavery. On the 27th of March, 1850, he de- 
livered an able speech in opposition to the bills reported by 
Mr. Clay, and during the debate on these measures spoke fre- 
quently and with marked ability. He did not succeed in de- 
feating the Compromise, however, and was also unsuccessful in 
his efforts to secure an amendment to the Fugitive Slave Law 
requiring alleged fugitive slaves to be tried by a jury. 

Up to 1852 Mr. Chase acted with the Democracy. The 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE, 627 

nomination of General Pierce for the Presidency in that year, 
and the endorsement by the Baltimore Convention of 1852 of 
the Compromise of 1850, showed him that the Democratic 
party was resolved to give its support to the slavery cause. He 
at once severed his connection with the Ohio Democracy, and 
took an active part in organizing an Independent Democratic 
party, with which he acted for about a year. The struggle 
over the Kansas-Nebraska bill broke up this connection. Mr. 
Chase was an ardent opponent of this bill, and labored with all 
his ability to secure its defeat, but in vain. The support given 
to the bill by the Democratic party showed him that he could 
not continue his connection with any part of it, and he gave his 
support to the movement which a few years later resulted in the 
organization of the Republican party. While in the Senate 
Mr. Chase advocated the Homestead Bill, the Pacific Railway, 
the bill for the reduction of postage, and other liberal and pro- 
gressive measures. 

The support given by the Administration of Mr. Pierce to the 
effort to force slavery upon the Territories created a strong 
opposition to it in the free States. In Ohio this opposition 
embraced the majority of the voters of the State. In 1855 Mr. 
Chase was nominated by this party for the office of Governor 
of Ohio, and was elected by a decisive majority. At the meet- 
ing of the National Convention of the Republican party he was 
strongly urged to accept the nomination for the Presidency, but 
declined it, and supported General Fremont after his nomina- 
tion by the Convention. 

As Governor of Ohio, Mr. Chase greatly added to his reputa- 
tion as a statesman. He induced the Legislature to inaugurate 
a thorough and excellent reform in the public school system of 
the State, and secured the adoption of other measures of great 
benefit, among which was the change from biennial to annual 
sessions of the Legislature. A very marked instance of his 
firmness and decision was given during the first year of his term. 
A few days before the semi-annual interest was due on the State 
debt, Governor Chase discovered a serious deficit in the State 
Treasury. The matter had been concealed by the Treasurer 
so long that there was danger that the State would not be able 
to meet its interest. The Governor at once demanded and com- 



628 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

pelled the resignation of the Treasurer, and caused a thorough 
investigation of his accounts to be made. By prompt and de- 
cisive measures he effected an arrangement by which the inter- 
est on the debt was met, and the credit of the State preserved. 

In 1858 Mr. Chase was reelected Governor by a handsome 
majority in spite of a vigorous effort of the Administration party 
to defeat him. His second term was as satisfactory to the peo- 
ple as the first, and he was able to secure the enactment by the 
Legislature of measures for the better protection and more sys- 
tematic administration of the finances of the State. He also 
secured the adoption of a liberal policy on the part of the State 
towards its benevolent institutions. In 1 860, at the close of his 
second term, he was again elected to the Senate of the United 
States by the Legislature of Ohio. 

Mr. Chase gave an active support to Mr. Lincoln for the 
Presidency in the campaign of i860, and contributed very 
greatly to his election. Upon the secession of South Carolina, 
he declared himself in favor of a prompt and vigorous course 
on the part of the Government for the preservation of the Union. 
In February, 1861, he was a member of the Ohio delegation to 
the Peace Congress which met at Washington. In this body 
he opposed all concessions to the seceded States for the mere 
sake of peace. In his speech of February 6th, he thus declared 
the sentiments of the Free States with respect to the question 
of slavery, the great cause of all the trouble : " The election (of 
Mr. Lincoln) must be regarded as a triumph of principles cher- 
ished in the hearts of the people of the Free States. These 
principles, it is true, were originally asserted by a small party 
only. But, after years of discussion, they have, by their own 
value, their own intrinsic soundness, obtained the deliberate and 
unalterable sanction of the people's judgment. Chief among 
these principles is the restriction of slavery within State limits; 
not war upon slavery within those limits, but fixed opposition 
to its extension beyond them. Mr. Lincoln was the candidate 
of the people opposed to the extension of slavery. We have 
elected him. After many years of earnest advocacy and of 
severe trial, we have achieved the triumph of that principle. 
By a fair and unquestionable majority, we have secured that 
triumph. Do you think we, who represent this majority, will 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 629 

throw it away? Do you think the people would sustain us if 
we undertook to throw it away ? I must speak to you plainly, 
gentlemen of the South. It is not in my heart to deceive you. 
I therefore tell you explicitly, that if we of the North and West 
would consent to throw away all that has been gained in the 
recent triumph of our principles, the people would not sustain 
us, and so the consent would avail you nothing. And I must 
tell you further, that under no inducements whatever will we 
consent to surrender a principle which we believe to be so 
sound and so important as that of restricting slavery within 
State limits." 

He was willing to do much to preserve the Union, but not at 
the expense of freedom. He declared himself unalterably 
opposed to the Fugitive Slave Law. With respect to this law 
he spoke as follows : " Aside from the Territorial question — 
the question of slavery outside of slave States — I know of but 
one serious difficulty. I refer to the questions concerning 
fugitives from service. The clause in the Constitution concern- 
ing this class of persons is regarded by almost all men. North 
and South, as a stipulation for the surrender to their masters of 
slaves escaping into the Free States. The people of the Free 
States, however, who believe that slaveholding is wrong, can- 
not and will not aid in the reclamation, and the stipulation be- 
comes, therefore, a dead letter. You complain of bad faith, and 
the complaint is retorted by denunciations of the cruelty which 
would drag back to bondage the poor slave who has escaped 
from it. You, thinking slavery right, claim the fulfilment of 
the stipulation ; we, thinking slavery wrong, cannot fulfil the 
stipulation without consciousness of participation in wrong. 
Here is a real difficulty, but it seems to me not insuperable. It 
will not do for us to say to you, in justification of non-perform- 
ance, ' the stipulation is immoral, and therefore we cannot exe- 
cute it ;' for you deny the immorality, and we cannot assume 
to judge for you. On the other hand, you ought not to exact 
from us the literal performance of the stipulation, when you 
know that we cannot perform it without conscious culpability. 
A true solution of the difficulty seems to be attainable by 
regarding it as a simple case where a contract, from changed 
circumstances, cannot be fulfilled exactly as made. A court of 



630 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

equity in such a case decrees execution as near as may be. It 
requires the party who cannot perform to make compensation 
for non-performance. Why cannot the same principle be ap- 
phed to the rendition of fugitives from service? We cannot 
surrender, but we can compensate. Why not then avoid all 
difficulties on all sides, and show respectively good faith and 
good will, by providing and accepting compensation where mas- 
ters reclaim escaping servants and prove their right of reclama- 
tion under the Constitution? Instead of a judgment for ren- 
dition, let there be a judgment for compensation, determined by 
the true value of the services, and let the same judgment assure 
freedom to the fugitive. The cost to the National Treasury 
would be as nothing in comparison with the evils of discord 
and strife. All parties would be gainers." 

The Peace Congress was a failure, and the trouble increased. 

On the 4th of March, 1861, Mr. Chase took his seat in the 
Senate, and at the same time was appointed by President Lincoln 
Secretar}^ of the Treasury. He accepted the position with reluc- 
tance, and only at the urgent request of his friends. He gave a 
cordial support to the measures of the President, and his influ- 
ence was cast entirely in favor of a vigorous policy. For the 
first few months of the war he was assigned a part of the duties 
of the Secretary of War, who was overburdened with the affairs 
of his department. He discharged these duties with ability 
and promptness, and by his vigorous measures saved the State 
of Kentucky from secession, and encouraged the Union men of 
East Tennessee to resist the authority of the Confederacy. He 
induced the Secretary' of War to issue the order directing 
military commanders not to surrender fugitive slaves to their 
masters, but to employ them in the public service, and protect 
them. These duties were in addition to his own proper labors 
as Secretary of the Treausry. 

When Mr. Chase took charge of the Treasury Department 
the finances of the country' were in a most critical condition. 
The Government was just entering upon a great and costly 
war, and was without funds to meet the expenses of such an 
undertaking. It was necessary to borrow money at once, and 
on the 22d of March, 1861, Mr. Chase issued proposals for a 
loan of $8,000,000, on six per cent, bonds, redeemable at the 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 63 1 

end of twenty years. The loan was quickly taken up, and 
the Secretary rejected all bids below ninety-four cents, as he 
had no intention of suffering the national credit to be placed at 
the mercy of the brokers. His firmness was applauded by the 
country. Between the nth of April and the ist of July, the 
Secretary borrowed ;^i 3,895,000 additional, on two years' trea- 
sury notes, exhibiting considerable skill in the negotiation of the 
loans, and the maintenance of the credit of the Government. 
Congress assembled in July, and authorized a loan of ;$500,- 
000,000. 

Mr. Chase now repaired to New York, and met the presidents 
of the leading banks of that city, Philadelphia and Boston, and 
in a full and frank conference stated to them the necessities of 
the Government, and his plan for raising the money necessary 
to carry on the war. The result of this conference was that 
the banks agreed to advance the Government ;^50,ooo,ooo. 
The Secretary, on his part, agreed to ask subscriptions from 
the people to a national loan, secured by three years' notes 
bearing seven-thirty per cent, interest, and convertible into 
bonds bearing six per cent, interest for twenty years. The 
proceeds of this subscription were to be turned over to the 
banks as rapidly as possible, to reimburse them for their ad- 
vances ; and if they should not wipe out this debt, the deficiency 
was to be made up with seven-thirty notes. A second ^50,- 
000,000 was obtained shortly after on the same terms, and on 
the 1 6th of November a loan of $50,000,000 was negotiated at 
seven per cent. The banks now united in opposing a further 
issue of United States notes as calculated to depreciate their 
local issues, and Mr. Chase threw the whole of his influence in 
favor of the effort to make " Greenbacks," as the Treasury notes 
were called, a legal tender. He was successful, and a law was 
passed by Congress to that effect, and has since been sustained 
by the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Mr. Chase had more trouble in securing the establishment 
of the National Bank system than he had in negotiating the 
loans of the Government. The notes of the old banks consti- 
tuted a currency which was subject to various discounts in the 
various States; and it was by no means certain that the ma- 
jority of these banks would be able to stand the strain imposed 



632 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

upon them by the war. "There were about 1500 State banks 
in existence, which wanted to make their own paper the cur- 
rency of the country. This the Secretaiy resisted, and con- 
fined his loans to greenbacks; but he did not drive out their 
currency, nor indeed did he think it exactly honest to so de- 
prive them of it, without giving any equivalent. He preferred 
tc neutralize their opposition to a national currency, and make 
them allies as far as possible, instead of enemies." He there- 
fore proposed the National Bank system, which was at first 
vehemently opposed both in Congress and by the State banks. 
He carried it through to success, however, and nearly all the 
State banks adopted it. " The National Banks were certain to 
be useful in many ways, but the Secretary's mam object was 
the establishment of a national currency. This saved us from 
panic and revulsion at the close of the war, and is of inestima- 
ble value to men of labor and men of business — indeed, to 
every class." 

The great success of Mr. Chase was his negotiation of the 
great loans of the Government. The banks having refused to 
aid him in the early part of the war, he conceived the idea of 
making the loan authorized by Congress a popular loan. He 
began cautiously, however, and appointed four hundred special 
agents to whom he confided the task of disposing of Treasury 
Notes to the amount of about ^30,000,000. The experiment 
was successful. Mr. Chase, upon examining the returns of his 
agents, discovered that notes to the amount of one-third of 
the whole sum had been sold by Jay Cooke & Co., of Phila- 
delphia. The success of his venture was so encouraging that 
he now resolved to dispose of the whole five hundred millions 
of five-twenty bonds authorized by Congress. He selected 
Jay Cooke as the agent of this loan. The success of the 
operation is well known, and need not be related here. The 
bonds were sold at fair prices, and became the most popular 
securities in the market. The other loans authorized by Con- 
gress were negotiated with equal success, and the National 
debt was placed in the hands of the people, who were the most 
interested in it. 

The drain upon the Treasury was enormous during the last 
three years of the war. After January ist, 1862, the expenses 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 633 

of the Government were over a million of dollars daily. The 
loans partly furnished the means of meeting these demands, 
but it was necessary to provide additional funds. Mr. Chase 
accordingly recommended to Congress, in 1862, the establish- 
ment of a system of Internal Revenue, to be drawn from two 
sources — a tax on manufactures, incomes, salaries and certain 
articles of personal property, and a stamp duty on all legal doc- 
uments. These recommendations were adopted by Congress 
and were finally embodied in laws. The new system went into 
operation in 1864. It was a heavy burden upon the country, 
but it was submitted to cheerfully in view of the necessity for 
it. It enabled the Government to meet the demands upon it, 
and to make provision for the interest upon its enormous debt. 

Mr. Chase's labors were severe, and very trying. He had 
literally to create the vast and complicated system by which 
the enormous expenses of the war were met, and the credit of 
the Government maintained during that terrible struggle. He 
carried the country successfully through the most trying part 
of the war, and then, worn-out, and feeling that his great ser- 
vices had not been altogether appreciated, he resigned his Sec- 
retaryship on the 30th of June, 1864. He had carried his sys- 
tem to such a degree of perfection that he was no longer needed 
at its head. Its success was assured. 

During the political campaign of 1864, Mr. Chase was 
brought forward as the candidate for the Presidency of the 
extreme or Radical wing of the Republican party, which was 
dissatisfied with Mr. Lincoln. This came near causing a breach 
between Lincoln and Chase. A rupture was fortunately averted 
by the strong good sense of the President. 

On the 1 2th of October, 1864, Chief Justice Taney died. 
Mr. Lincoln was at once beseiged by a host of applicants for 
the place, but he disregarded them all, and appointed Mr. Chase 
Chief Justice of the United States, on the 6th of December, 
1864. The nomination was unanimously confirmed by the 
Senate, and Judge Chase was sworn into office on the 15th of 
December, .1864. "Notwithstanding Mr. Lincoln's apparent 
hesitation in the appointment of a successor," says Mr. Carpen- 
ter, " it is well known to his most intimate friends, that ' there 



634 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

had never been a time during his Presidency, when, in the 
event of the death of Judge Taney, he had not fully intended 
and expected to nominate Salmon P. Chase for Chief Justice.' 
These were his very words, uttered in connection with this 
subject." 

Shortly after entering upon his new duties. Judge Chase 
made a tour through the recently conquered Southern States, 
passing down the Atlantic coast, and returning up the Missis- 
sippi River. His object was to obtain a personal knowledge 
of the condition and wants of the Southern people. Feeling 
assured that the war was ended, he used this knowledge in 
advocating with the President and people of the loyal States a 
policy of generosity towards the South. Now that the Union 
was safe. Judge Chase was anxious to win back the South by 
kindness and brotherly conduct. 

As Chief Justice of the United States Judge Chase fully sus- 
tained the great reputation he had won. His decisions com- 
mand the respect of the world, and many of them are marked 
by extraordinary force and ability. He came to the Bench when 
he was worn out with the herculean labors he had performed 
during the war, and yet he bore himself with a dignity and abil- 
ity which won for him the admiration of the whole country. 
It was his duty to preside over the High Court of Impeachment 
for the trial of President Johnson in 1868. He discharged this 
delicate duty with an impartial dignity which stripped the pro- 
ceeding of many of its worst partisan features. 

Judge Chase continued to discharge his duties as Chief Jus- 
tice until late in the Spring of 1870. He had never entirely 
recovered from the strain of his severe labors during the war 
— which were the chief cause of his death — and had for some 
time been complaining of ill health. After the close of the 
Spring term of 1870, he made a journey, in company with one 
of his daughters, to St. Paul and Duluth. On his homeward 
journey, he was smitten, at Niagara Falls, with a stroke of par- 
alysis. By a powerful effort he kept on his way, and reached 
the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Sprague, at Narragansett, 
R. I., where he received medical treatment. He remained there 
during the winter, and in January, 1871, went to New York to 
consult a physician. In the fall of 1871 he visited some new 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 635 

springs in Michigan, from the waters of which he derived much 
benefit. In the spring of 1872 he partially resumed his duties, 
and devoted the summer of that year to travel and rest. In 
the winter he resumed his place in the Supreme Court, and at 
the close of the term, in the Spring of 1873, went to New York. 
He reached that city on the 6th of May, and a few hours later 
was again stricken down with paralysis, and died the next day, 
May 7th, 1873, at the age of sixty-five. 




CHARLES SUMNER. 

CHARLES SUMNER was born at Boston, Massachusetts, 
on the 6th of January, i8ii. He was the son of Charles 
Pinkney Sumner, a prominent citizen of Boston, who was for 
fourteen years Sheriff of Suffolk county. He was educated at 
the Latin school of Boston, from which he passed to Harvard 
College, where he graduated in 1830. Upon leaving college 
he entered the Law School at Cambridge, where he pursued 
his legal studies under the immediate supervision of Judge 
Story. The great jurist conceived a warm friendship for his 
pupil, and an intimacy sprang up between them which was ter- 
minated only by the death of Judge Story. While he was still 
a student, Mr. Sumner became a leading contributor to the 
" American Jurist," a quarterly law journal of high character 
and extensive circulation. In 1833 he edited an edition of 
Andrew Dunlap's " Treatise on the Practice of the Courts of 
Admiralty in Civil Causes of Maritime Jurisdiction." The 
learning and skill displayed by Mr. Sumner in this work won 
him great credit from the profession. In 1834 he was admitted 
to the bar at Worcester, and returning to Boston entered upon 
the practice of his profession. His success was marked from 
the first, and he was soon the most prosperous young lawyer 
in the city. Shortly after being admitted to the bar, he was 
made Reporter to the United States Circuit Court, in which 
capacity he published three volumes of Judge Story's decisions. 
About the same time he was given the editorial charge of the 
" American Jurist," which he conducted with marked ability. 
During the three years following his admission to the bar he 
lectured to the students at the Cambridge Law School, filling 
the chairs of Greenleaf and Story during their absence. These 
lectures and literary labors gave him a high standing among 
the members of his profession. Judge Story was very anxious 
that, at his death, Mr. Sumner should be his successor in the 
Law School. " I shall die content," he said, "so far as my pro- 

(636) 




CHARLES SUMNER. 



CHARLES SUMNER. 637 

fessorship is concerned, if Charles Sumner is to succeed me." 
Chancellor Kent declared, some years later, that Mr. Sumner 
was "the only person in the country competent to wear the 
mantle of his departed friend." 

In 1837 Mr. Sumner made a visit to Europe, and spent 
three years abroad in travel, and in studying the institutions 
and laws of the various countries he visited. He bore with him 
letters of introduction which secured him a flattering reception 
wherever he went, and his personal qualities won him many 
friends. He spent nearly a year in England, and was a con- 
stant attendant upon the debates in Parliament. He made 
many acquaintances among the most distinguished public men 
of the kingdom. "The most flattering attentions were shown 
Mr. Sumner by distinguished members of the English bar and 
bench, and while attending the courts at Westminster Hall, he 
was frequently invited by the judges to sit by their side at the 
trials. At the meeting of the British Scientific Association, 
he experienced the same courteous attentions. In town and 
country, he moved freely in circles of society, to which refine- 
ment, wealth and worth, lend every charm and grace." He 
visited France, Germany, and Italy, where he received similar 
attentions, and became acquainted with the leading jurists, pub- 
licists, scientists and literary men. During his stay in Paris, 
he wrote, at the request of General Cass, then the American 
Minister to France, an able defence of the American claim to 
the North-eastern boundary. It was published, and attracted 
general attention in both Europe and America. 

In 1840 Mr. Sumner returned home and resumed the prac- 
tice of his profession. In 1843 he was again appointed Lec- 
turer at the Law School. In 1844 he began the publication of 
" Vesey's Reports," in twenty volumes. This great work was 
enriched with numerous biographical sketches and explanatory 
notes from his pen. Its publication was completed in 1846. 
The Boston Law RepoTter, referring to the able manner in which 
Mr. Sumner had executed his task, said of him, " In what may 
be called the literature of the law — the curiosities of legal 
learning — he has no rival among us." 

On the 4th of July, 1845, Mr. Sumner delivered an eloquent 
address before the municipal authorities of Boston, entitled 



638 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

" The True Grandeur of Nations." It was a plea in behalf of 
universal peace. The Mexican War began to engross the at- 
tention of the country before the close of the year, and he de- 
livered several speeches in opposition to it. He had con- 
demned the annexation of Texas, as he regarded it as an effort 
to extend the area of slavery, and he opposed the Mexican War 
for the same reason. In politics Mr. Sumner acted with the 
Whig party, and in 1 846 delivered an address before the Whig 
Convention of Massachusetts on the "Anti-Slavery Duties of 
of the Whig party," in which he declared his uncompromising 
hostility to slavery. 

In 1848 Mr. Sumner withdrew from the Whig party, and 
united with the Free Soilers. He advocated the claims of Mr. 
Van Buren, the candidate of this party for the Presidency. His 
party was defeated and General Taylor was elected President. 
On the 3d of October, 1850, he delivered before the Free Soil 
State Convention at Boston a powerful speech on "Our Recent 
Anti-Slavery Duties." In it he denounced the Fugitive Slave 
Bill, and declared that President Fillmore, by signing it, had 
rendered himself infamous. 

Daniel Webster having been called from the Senate of the 
United States to the head of President Fillmore's Cabinet, it 
became necessary for the Legislature of Massachusetts to elect 
his successor. An exciting contest ensued, which resulted in 
the choice of Mr. Sumner on the 24th of April, 185 1, by a coa- 
lition of the Free Soilers and Democrats in the Legislature. 
He took his seat in the Senate immediately after his election. 
He came pledged to " oppose all sectionalism, whether it appear 
in unconstitutional efforts by the North to carry so great a boon 
as freedom into the Slave States, or in unconstitutional efforts 
by the South, aided by Northern allies, to carry the sectional 
evil of slavery into the Free States ; or in whatsoever efforts it 
may make to extend the sectional domination of slavery over 
the National Government." 

Mr. Sumner's eloquence was well known to the Senate, and 
the dominant party in that body determined to keep him silent 
as long as possible. By a deliberately arranged plan he was 
never allowed to gain the floor, and for nearly nine months after 
his entrance into the Senate he was prevented from addressing 



CHARLES SUMNER. 639 

that body. At the end of that time, however, he managed to 
seize an opportunity when his opponents were off their guard, 
and addressed the Senate on the subject of slavery. His ad- 
dress was entitled " Freedom National, Slavery Sectional," and 
has become a part of the history of the country. Having 
spoken once, it was impossible to silence him again, and he 
took his place as the recognized leader of the anti-slavery 
party in the Senate. In August, 1853, he spoke at Plymouth 
Rock, on the subject of slavery; and at the Republican Con- 
vention of Massachusetts, in September, 1854; at the Metro- 
politan Theatre, in New York, in May, 1855, and at Faneuil 
Hall, in November, 1855, on the same subject. These speeches 
were among the ablest of his life, and were read throughout 
the Union. 

When the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was introduced into the 
Senate, Mr. Sumner opposed it with all his powers. He de- 
nounced the proposed repeal of the Missouri Compromise 
restriction as an outrage upon the honor of the nation. He 
declared that the repeal would be the death knell of slavery, 
inasmuch as it annulled all past compromises with slavery, and 
made all future compromises impossible. " Thus," he said, "it 
puts freedom and slavery face to face, and bids them grapple. 
Who can doubt the result ? It opens wide the door of the 
future, when, at last, there will really be a North, and the slave 
power will be broken ; when this wretched despotism will 
cease to dominate over our Government, no longer impressing 
itself upon everything at home and abroad ; when the National 
Government shall be divorced in every way from slavery ; and, 
according to the true intention of our fathers, freedom shall 
be established by Congress everywhere, at least beyond the 
local limits of the States. Slavery then will be driven from its 
usurped foothold here in the District of Columbia, in the Na- 
tional Territories, and elsewhere beneath the national flag; the 
Fugitive Slave bill, as vile as it is unconstutional, will become 
a dead letter ; and the domestic slave trade, so far as it can be 
reached, but especially on the high seas, will be blasted by 
Congressional prohibition. Everywhere, within the sphere of 
Congress, the great Northern hammer will descend to smite 
the wrong; and the irresistible cry will break forth, 'No more 
Slave States.' " 



640 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

On the 26th of June, 1854, Mr. Sumner presented to the 
Senate the memorial of the citizens of Boston for the repeal of 
the Fugitive Slave Law. On that day and on the 28th he 
replied to Senators Jones, of Tennessee, Butler, of South Caro- 
lina, and Mason, of Virginia, in speeches which were listened 
to with attention by the Senate. On the 31st of July he made 
a memorable appeal in behalf of the " Repeal of the Fugitive 
Slave Law." The Senate, however, refused to allow the bill 
for that purpose to be introduced. 

In May, 1856, Mr. Sumner delivered in the Senate his great 
speech on " The Crime against Kansas." It occupied two days 
in its delivery, and was perhaps the severest denunciation of 
slavery and its supporters that had ever been uttered upon the 
floor of the Senate. In the course of his remarks he replied to 
Senator Butler, of South Carolina, with severity and force. 

On the 22d of May, two days after the delivery of his speech, 
Mr. Sumner was sitting writing at his desk, after the adjourn- 
ment of the Senate, when he was approached by Preston S. 
Brooks, a member of the House of Representatives from South 
Carolina, and a nephew of Senator Butler. Coming up behind 
Mr. Sumner, as he sat unconscious of his assailant's approach, 
Brooks struck him over the head with a heavy cane, and felled 
him to the floor, where he repeatedly struck him over the head, 
inflicting serious injuries. All this while, Mr. Lawrence M. 
Keitt, another Representative from South Carolina, stood by 
with a loaded pistol to prevent any interference on the part of 
Mr. Sumner's friends. The Senate having adjourned, there 
were but a few persons present in the hall. These were so 
astounded by the suddenness of the attack, that they were at 
first powerless to interfere; but, recovering themselves, Messrs. 
Morgan and Murray, of New York, and Mr. Chittenden, 
rushed in and put an end to the brutal affair. Mr. Sumner, 
bleeding and insensible, was carried from the Senate chamber 
to his lodgings. His injuries were so severe that he was un- 
able to return to his seat in the Senate, and was compelled to 
go abroad to seek medical aid. He placed himself under the 
treatment of Dr. Brown-Sequard, of Paris, and now a resident 
of New York, a surgeon whose eminent abilities are well known. 
Thanks to the surgeon's skill and his own vigorous constitu- 



CHARLES SUMNER. 64I 

tion, Mr. Sumner recovered his health, and after an absence of 
four years, was able to take his seat in the Senate. The effects 
of his injuries were never entirely removed, and were in the 
end the cause of his death. They also caused him many years 
of the severest physical suffering. 

The assault upon Mr. Sumner created a feeling of intense in- 
dignation in the North and West. Indignation meetings were 
held in various cities and towns, and the act was properly de- 
nounced as an attack upon the right of free speech. Brooks 
and Keitt were severely censured by the House of Represen- 
tatives for their conduct, and resigned their seats to escape ex- 
pulsion. 

Mr. Sumner returned to his seat in the Senate in i860, and 
on the 4th of June, of that year, in the debate on the bill to 
admit Kansas as a Free State, delivered an able address on 
" The Barbarism of Slaver}^" In the Presidential campaign of 
i860, he was very active in behalf of the Republican cause. 
In the winter of 1860-61, he advocated firmness and decision 
on the part of the General Government, and opposed all con- 
cessions to the South for the sake of peace, as foolish and 
wrong. 

Upon the assembling of Congress, in July, 1861, Mr. Sum- 
ner was appointed Chairman of the Senate Committee of For- 
eign Relations, and held this important position throughout the 
war. He "was often accused of being radical, ultra and bitter," 
says a writer in The Annual Cyclopccdia ; "but in all the years 
of the war he was, according to the testimony of those best 
qualified to judge, and who were themselves never accused of 
radicalism, the most cautious, prudent, and judicious of coun- 
sellors, and more than once was instrumental in averting war 
with Great Britain and France when it appeared imminent. In 
other measures appertaining to home affairs, he was not less 
active and useful." He gave a cordial support to the policy of 
Mr. Lincoln during the war, and was warmly esteemed and 
often consulted by the President. In 1863 he was elected to 
a third term in the Senate. 

Mr. Sumner was one of the earliest advocates of a generous 
and conciliatory course towards the South in the reconstruction 
of the Union. He was also one of the originators of the 
41 



642 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

amendments to the Constitution adopted since the war, and 
designed to secure the permenancy of the results of the struggle, 
and he aided materially in securing their adoption. He was 
strongly opposed to the "policy" of President Johnson, and 
took an active part in the impeachment trial. 

He gave his support to General Grant in 1868, but did not 
take much part in the canvass. In 1869 he was again returned 
to the Senate by the Massachusetts Legislature. In the same 
year he delivered an able speech on the Alabama Claims, set- 
ting forth the position held by this country on that subject. 
The speech was hotly denounced in England, but Mr. Sumner 
had the satisfaction a few years later of seeing the principles 
laid down by him adopted by the arbitrators of the dispute as 
the basis of the settlement, and sanctioned, though with reluc- 
tance, by the British Government. 

In December, 1870, Mr. Sumner threw the whole weight of 
his influence against the scheme for the annexation of St. 
Domingo, which had become the favorite measure of President 
Grant, and secured its defeat. This won him the hostility of 
the President, who at the opening of the next session of Con- 
gress induced the Administration party to remove him from the 
chairmanship of the Committee on Foreign Relations. It 
was well known to the country that Mr. Sumner was the best 
fitted man in the Senate for this position, and his removal was 
generally condemned. Simon Cameron, a Senator from Penn- 
sylvania, was appointed his suc(?essor. 

The opposition of Mr. Sumner to the President's policy ex- 
posed him to the attacks of the party that had collected around 
President Grant. The Massachusetts Senator had become 
disgusted with the corruption and favoritism that had crept 
into the Government, and for which he justly held the President 
responsible. He held his own gallantly against the Adminis- 
tration party, and had the satisfaction of knowing that he had 
the sympathy of the people with him in his contest. In Feb- 
ruaiy, 1872, he delivered a speech in the Senate in favor of an 
investigation of the sales of ordnance made by the United States 
during the Franco-German War. It was regarded as the ablest 
effort of his whole career in the Senate, and was a powerful 
arraignment of the policy of the Administration. 



CHARLES SUMNER. 643 

The great mental strain imposed upon him by his contest 
with the President's party, brought on a return of his old suf- 
fering-caused by the injuries inflicted upon him by Brooks, and 
his physician ordered him to refrain from all intellectual exer- 
tion during the remainder of the session. He obeyed this 
order in part only, and was very active in the effort to secure 
the adoption of the Supplementary Civil Rights Bill, which 
passed the Senate, but was defeated in the House. On the 
31st of May, 1872, he delivered an elaborate speech in the 
Senate, arraigning the President for his abuse of the appoint- 
ing power. The supporters of the Administration endeavored 
to break the force of his charges by taunting him with infi- 
delity to the Republican party, regardless of the facts that he, 
from conviction, had been one of the founders of that party, 
had fought its battles when it required moral courage of the 
highest order to do so, and had won success for it, while many 
of them had entered it only after its triumph was assured, and 
in order to share in the spoils of its victory. Many fair-minded 
men who were led to believe Mr. Sumner wrong in his opposi- 
tion to the President's policy, will, in the light of recent events, 
and amid the national shame at the exposure of the corruption 
with which that policy has covered the Republic, recognize in 
that opposition an additional evidence of the independence of 
mind which constitutes the basis of all true statesmanship. 

His health continuing to fail, Mr. Sumner made a voyage to 
Europe in June, 1872, in the, hope of being benefited by rest 
and change. He remained abroad until near the last of No- 
vember, and consequently took no part in the Presidential cam- 
paign of that year, though his influence was cast in favor of 
Horace Greeley. 

At the opening of Congress in December, 1872, Mr. Sum- 
ner was in his seat in the Senate. Early in the session he in- 
troduced a resolution providing that the names of the battles 
of the Civil War shall not be continued in the Army Register, 
nor inscribed on the regimental colors of the army of the 
United States, since the victories they commemorate were won 
over fellow-citizens. This resolution was bitterly assailed by 
some short-sighted partisans, as an attack upon the army that 
had carried the war to a triumphal close. The resolution was 



644 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

offered in the spirit of the old Romans, who wisely refused to 
perpetuate the memories of civil strife, and Mr. Sumner never 
regretted it. It subjected him to a great deal of unmerited 
abuse, however, and the Legislature of Massachusetts, on the 
1 8th of December, 1872, passed a resolution censuring him 
for this act. In January, 1 874, the Legislature, in accordance 
with the universal desire of the people of the State, rescinded 
the resolution. 

Mr. Sumner took scarcely any part in the short session of 
1872-73. His health had given way to such a marked degree 
that he was frequently ill from severe attacks of angina pectoris. 
During the winter of 1873-74, he was usually in his place in 
the Senate, though all the time an invalid and constantly under 
the care of his physician. On the afternoon of March loth, 
1874, he was seized with an attack of angina pectoris, which, 
about nightfall, became of such a violent nature as to excite 
the gravest alarm of his physician. The usual remedies were 
applied, but without success, and his sufferings increased until 
they became almost unbearable. After twenty hours of in- 
tense agony, he died on the afternoon of March nth, 1874, at 
the age of sixty-three. 

His remains were conveyed to Boston, and were buried in 
Mount Auburn. 




GEORGE HENRY THOMAS. 

GEORGE HENRY THOMAS was born in Southampton 
County, Virginia, on the 31st of July, 1816. His parents 
were wealthy, and he received a good education. At the age 
of twenty he entered the Military Academy at West Point, 
and graduated in July, 1840, the twelfth in a class of forty-five 
members. He was appointed a second lieutenant in the Third 
Artillery, and was ordered to Florida, where his regiment was 
engaged in the war with the Seminole Indians. He served 
eighteen months in this war, and on the 6th of November, 
1 841, was brevetted first lieutenant for gallant conduct in bat- 
tle. He attained the full rank on the 17th of May, 1843. In 
June, 1842, he was ordered to Fort Moultrie, in Charleston 
Harbor, and in December was transferred to Fort McHenry, 
at Baltimore. In the spring of 1844, he was sent back to Fort 
Moultrie, and remained there until the summer of 1845, when 
his company was sent to the Rio Grande, to join General Tay- 
lor. He took part in the defence of Fort Brown, opposite 
Matamoras, and for his gallant conduct at the storming of 
Monterey was brevetted a captain. In the advance from Mon- 
terey his battery was attached to General Quitman's Division, 
which constituted the advance guard of the army. In the bat- 
tle of Buena Vista the battery bore a distinguished part, and 
Thomas won the brevet rank of major. He remained with 
General Taylor's army until the close of the war, and in Au- 
gust, 1848, he was ordered to Texas and placed in charge of 
the Commissary Department at Brazos Santiago. In Decem- 
ber he was ordered to Fort Adams, at Newport, Rhode Island; 
but the Indians in Florida having become troublesome again, 
he was sent with his company to that State, where he remained 
until December, 1850. In the early spring of 185 1 he was 
assigned to duty at the Military Academy at West Point, as 
Instructor of Artillery and Cavalry, which position he held 
until the summer of 1854. While on duty at West Point he 

(645) 



646 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

married Miss Frances S. Kellogg, of Troy, New York. In 
the summer of 1854, Major Thomas was relieved from duty at 
West Point, and was placed in command of Fort Yuma, in 
California. A little later he was transferred to the Cavalry, 
and was appointed junior major in the famous Second Regi- 
ment of Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Albert Sydney John- 
ston, with Lieut. Col. Robert E. Lee as his second in command. 
In 1855, Major Thomas joined his regiment at Jefferson Bar- 
racks, in Missouri, and the next year accompanied the regi- 
ment to Texas, where he served with distinction for three years, 
receiving a wound in a battle with the Indians. In i860 he 
applied for and obtained a short leave of absence — the second 
he had asked for in a service of twenty years — and went on a 
visit to the North. 

During his absence from his regiment the secession troubles 
began. Upon the secession of the State of Texas, the State 
authorities demanded the surrender of the United States troops 
in Texas, and General Twiggs, the commanding officer, com- 
plied with the demand, and surrendered his whole force. The 
Second Cavalry were among the troops surrendered. 

It was supposed that, as Major Thomas was a Virginian by 
birth, he would follow the fortunes of his State. He had no 
idea of doing so, however, and declared his intention to remain 
faithful to the Union. He was at once appointed Lieutenant- 
Colonel of his regiment, and upon the acceptance of the resig- 
nations of Sidney Johnston and Lee, was promoted to the rank 
of Colonel and the command of the regiment, in May, 1861. 
He was placed in command of a brigade in the army of General 
Patterson, in the summer of 1 86 1 , and took part in the inglorious 
campaign of that officer in the Valley of Virginia. 

In August, 1 86 1, Thomas was made a Brigadier-general of 
Volunteers, and was placed in command of Camp Dick Robin- 
son in Kentucky. Towards the close of the year he was 
stationed at Lebanon, and was given by General Buell the 
command of the first division of the Army of the Ohio. About 
the New Year (1862) General Crittenden, with a Confederate 
force, crossed the Cumberland River, and advanced into Ken- 
tucky. Thomas, hearing of this, moved forward to attack him, 
and was himself attacked at Mill Spring, on the i8th of January, 



GEORGE HENRY THOMAS. 647 

1862. He inflicted a severe defeat upon the Confederates, and 
drove them back with heavy loss. That night they abandoned 
their camp, and retreated in confusion beyond the Cumberland. 

General Thomas was anxious to follow up his success by the 
invasion of East Tennessee, but was ordered by General Buell 
to join him without delay. He accompanied Buell's army in 
its march to join Grant at Pittsburg Landing; but, as his divi- 
sion constituted Buell's rear guard, did not reach the Tennessee 
in time to take part in the battle of Shiloh. 

General Halleck now assumed the chief command of the 
armies of the Tennessee, and advanced upon Corinth, which 
was held by the Confederates under General Beauregard. 
Thomas's division was transferred to the Army of the Tennes- 
see, and he was placed in command of the left wing. On the 
25th of April, 1862, he was made Major-general of Volunteers. 
After the evacuation of Corinth his own division held the line 
of the railway from luka, Mississippi, to Tuscumbia, Alabama. 

In June, 1862, he was transferred back to the Army of the 
Ohio, as the second in command, and accompanied General 
Buell in his march into Kentucky to meet Bragg, who had 
invaded that State. Upon the arrival of the army at Louisville, 
General Thomas received a telegram from the War Depart- 
ment, ordering him to relieve Buell and take command of the 
army. He immediately telegraphed to the President, declining 
the honor, and urging him not to remove Buell. His appeal 
was successful, and the President rescinded his order. The 
failure of Buell to prevent Bragg from leaving the State with- 
out fighting a decisive battle, caused his removal from the 
command. General Rosecrans was appointed his successor. 
The army now took the name of the " Army of the Cumber- 
land," which it ever afterwards retained. 

In the advance upon Murfreesboro, Thomas commanded the 
Fourteenth Corps, and held the centre in the bloody battle of 
Stone River, on the 31st of December, 1862, and the 2d of 
Januar}', 1863. He held his ground with firmness on the first 
day, while the rest of the line was broken and shattered by the 
Confederate attack. That night, the day having closed with a 
clear victory for the Confederates, a council of war was held at 
Rosecrans's headquarters. Thomas declared himself in favor 



648 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of fighting the battle out. His hopeful view prevailed, and it 
was resolved to fall back to a new line and await the attack of 
the Confederates. This was done on the next day, January 
1st, 1863, and Thomas rendered material aid to Rosecrans in 
the selection and establishment of this new line. On the 2d 
of January, Bragg renewed the battle by a determined attack 
on Rosecrans's new position, and met with a bloody repulse. 
Thomas greatly distinguished himself in this battle. Rosecrans 
was enthusiastic in his praise of him, and spoke of him in his 
official report of the action as ''true and prudent, distinguished 
in council, and on many battle-fields for his courage." 

In September, 1863, Bragg, who had fallen back to Chat- 
tanooga after the battle of Stone River, or Murfreesboro, 
evacuated that place on the approach of Rosecrans's army, and 
withdrew towards Dalton, Georgia. Rosecrans, who at first 
regarded this movement as a flight, moved forward in pursuit. 
He soon discovered that Bragg's object was simply to draw 
the Union army into the open field, where he could attack it 
with a fair prospect of success. Upon reaching the neighbor- 
hood of Cleveland, the Confederate commander was reinforced 
by Longstreet's whole corps from Lee's army in Virginia. He 
at once wheeled about, and advanced to meet Rosecrans. 

General Rosecrans now, for the first time, perceived the true 
nature of Bragg's movement. The counter-march of the Con- 
federates was so sudden that it caught the Union commander 
with the various corps of his army scattered on the march and 
separated by Lookout Mountain. The advance of the South- 
ern army was by the only pass by which a speedy concentra- 
tion of the Union forces could be effected. This state of af- 
fairs was indeed alarming, and Rosecrans at once commenced 
the effort to get his army in hand in time to meet the attack 
upon it. Bragg had ordered Hindman's division of his army 
to get possession of the pass to which we have referred, and 
Rosecrans, seeing the importance of preventing this, ordered 
Thomas to attempt to secure it first, as its occupation by the 
Confederates would expose the divided fragments of the army 
to the danger of being beaten in detail, Crittenden's corps being 
still beyond the mountain. 

Thomas, by a forced march, reached the pass before Hind- 



GEORGE HENRY THOMAS. 649 

man, and occupied it with Negley's division. Leaving this 
force to hold the pass, he hastened to Crittenden's position, 
reinforced him, and awaited the return of McCook's corps 
from its fruitless march to intercept Bragg's retreat. McCook 
arrived and took position on Thomas's right on the 17th of 

September. 

Rosecrans now formed his line of battle somewhat m the 
rear of his first position, and awaited the onset of the enemy. 
Thomas's corps held the left, Crittenden's corps the centre, and 
McCook's corps the right, while Gordon Granger's small corps 
was held in reserve. The movements of the Confederates had 
rendered it certain that their attack would fall upon Rosecrans's 
left, with the hope of cutting him off from Chattanooga, and 
this part of the line was given to Thomas because he was uni- 
versally regarded as the mainstay of the army. The line was 
fully established on the night of the i8th. 

Longstreet's corps having arrived within supporting distance, 
Bragg moved forward on the morning of the 19th of Septem- 
ber to turn Rosecrans's left. He made his attack at ten o'clock, 
assailing Thomas's extreme left, and endeavoring to gain posses- 
sion of the road from Lafayette to Chattanooga. The first 
assault was repulsed by Brannan's division, but Longstreet's 
corps, arriving on the field, was thrown against the Union left 
with luch force that Thomas's line was broken, and his troops 
began to show signs of demoralization. Thomas's quick eye 
detected this, and riding into the breaking lines he rallied his 
men, and led them in an attack upon the Confederates, who 
were rapidly advancing, and drove them back. The troops 
greeted Thomas's appearance among them with enthusiastic 
cheers, and all signs of wavering disappeared from their ranks. 
Placing himself at the head of his corps, Thomas gave the 
order to move forward and recover the ground that had been 
lost. The Confederates opposed a stubborn resistance to this 
steady advance, but could not stop it, and by nightfall Thomas 
had not only regained his lost ground, but had driven the force 
opposed to him for over a mile. His loss was heavy, but his 
men were in the highest spirits. 

The right and centre had not been so fortunate, however. 
They wei^e broken and driven back with terrible loss by the 



650 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Confederates. These disasters put a stop to Thomas's advance, 
and compelled him to fall back to save what was left of the 
army from destruction. 

That night Rosecrans changed the position of his army. 
The right was drawn back, and was posted on Mission Ridge, 
which formation shortened his line by fully a mile, and to a 
corresponding degree added to its strength. Rosecrans was 
convinced that, as on the previous day, the enemy's main effort 
on the 20th would be directed against his left, and he ordered 
Thomas to hold his ground at any cost, promising to support 
him with the whole army. Thomas answered briefly that he 
would do his best, and during the night threw up a breastwork 
of rails and logs before his line. 

About ten o'clock on the morning of the 20th, the Confed- 
erates renewed the attack with great vigor, directing .their 
heaviest blows against the Union left. Thomas's face grew 
very grave as he saw the dense columns of attack approach 
his line; but riding calmly down the front, he exhorted his 
men to hold their ground. The Confederate attack was simply 
fearful. Regardless of the heavy fire with which they were 
received, the Southern troops swept forward with a heroism 
which extorted the admiration of their opponents. The left, 
shaken by this severe trial, began to waver. In an instant 
Thomas, unmindful of the storm of balls that swept around 
him, threw himself into the midst of liis men, and endeavored 
to hold them firm. Human valor could avail nothing against 
such an attack. The right and centre of the Union army had 
been broken, and were flying in confusion, with the Confed- 
erates pressing them heavily. The left could bear it no longer. 
Slowly and stubbornly, division by division, Thomas's line gave 
way, and fell back in disorder. The General had no idea of 
being beaten in this way, however, and by almost superhuman 
exertions succeeded in rallying his men and restoring order in 
his ranks. Falling back to a point almost entirely beyond the 
valley, he took up a new position on the side of Mission Ridge, 
his left still resting upon the Lafayette road, and his right near 
the gap in the ridge through which ran the road to Chatta- 
nooga. Here he collected the remains of his corps, and pre- 
pared to make a last desperate stand. 



GEORGE HENRY THOMAS. 65 I 

The Confederates, having routed the right and and centre, 
now concentrated all their force upon Thomas, and it was cer- 
tain that unless he could receive assistance he must share the 
fate of the rest of the army. He had sent urgent appeals to 
Rosecrans for reinforcements; but at that moment the Union 
commander was being borne along, helpless, in the torrent of 
fugitives that was pouring along the roads to Chattanooga. 
Thomas must meet the whole Southern army alone, and if he 
should falter all would be lost. He posted his cannon on the 
ridge to command every approach, and awaited in a grim 
silence the attack of the Confederates. 

It came almost immediately after he had formed his line, and 
sure of victory, General Bragg attempted to dislodge this 
gallant remnant of the Union army by a direct attack. He 
was met with such firmness, however, that he determined to 
turn Thomas's right flank by the gap in Mission Ridge, of 
which we have spoken. His great superiority in numbers en- 
couraged him to hope for the success of this movement. While 
a column was put in motion for the gap, he pressed the attack 
in front with vigor. 

The first intimation that Thomas had of this design was the 
sight of the Confederates moving swiftly through the gap. He 
had no troops to spare to meet this movement, and should the 
Confederates succeed in reaching the point in his rear for which 
they were aiming, nothing could avert his utter ruin. His 
retreat would be entirely cut off, and only an unconditional sur- 
render could save his men from destruction. He was powerless 
to do anything. The enemy pressed him so heavily in front that 
it was with difficulty he could hold his position. He had heard 
nothing from Rosecrans since morning, and was in utter ignor- 
ance of the state of affairs elsewhere, save that he was constantly 
receiving from officers cut off from their commands reports of 
fresh disasters. He could only sit idly on his horse, and with 
a sinking heart, watch the long grey line that was swiftly and 
remorselessly moving towards his rear. 

Suddenly a dense cloud of dust shot up above the trees 
away to the left, and a few minutes later heav>^ columns of men 
emerged from the woods, and advanced rapidly over the fields 
towards the Union position. They moved with the imposing 



652 



AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



Steadiness of disciplined troops, their flags floating out proudly 
over their heads, and their burnished arms flashing throu-h the 
thick clouds of dust. *^ 

Who could they be? Were these splendid battalions the 
long-praj/ed-for reinforcements, or were they the enemy ad- 
vancing from a new quarter to complete his ruin ? The calm 
face of General Thomas grew ghastly pale, and, raising his 
glass to his eyes, he watched in stern silence the advance of 
the swiftly-moving columns. Turning at length to the officers 
of his staff, he said nervously, and in a tone the keen agony of 
which touched all who heard him, "Take my glass, some of 
you whose horse is steady, and tell me what you can see " 
Some one standing near, said he thought he could make out 
the "Stars and Stripes." Captain Johnson, of Negley's stafT, 
having become separated from his command, now reported for 
duty to General Thomas, and was ordered to " find out what 
troops those were coming in on the left." Thomas caught up 
his glass again, and watched the advancing column with deep- 
ening anxiety. Suddenly the glass was lowered, and a load 
was lifted from his heart. A light wind caught the standards 
and flapped out every fold to its fullest extent, and the sunlight 
breaking through the clouds of dust shone on the red and btue 
bars and the white crescent of Gordon Granger's battle-flag. 

The arrival of Granger's corps was not a moment too ^oon. 
It was at once directed against the Confederate force that had 
gotten into Thomas's rear. During the remainder of the 
afternoon the battle ebbed and flowed, but when the darkness 
closed the fight Thomas still held his ground. Having learned 
the fate of the rest of the army, he fell back sullenly durin- 
night to Rossville, and the next day withdrew to Chattanooga 
unmolested by the Confederates. 

The splendid fighting of Thomas, and his rock-like firmness 
were all that saved the Union army from destruction at Chick- 
amaug-a. The rest of the army was terribly beaten, and had 
his corps given way the whole army must have been driven 
out of Tennessee, a demoralized mob, or a surrender would 
have been inevitable. He received as he deserved the hearty 
praise ofthe loyal States. 'General Rosecrans was relieved of 
his command on the 19th of October, and, in accordance with 



GEORGE HENRY THOMAS. 653 

the unanimous wish of the Army of the Cumberland, General 
Thomas was appointed his successor. On the 27th of October, 
1863, he was appointed a Brigadier-General in the Regular 
Army of the United States. 

After the battle of Chickamauga, Bragg advanced to Mission 
Ridge, and invested Chattanooga, which was held by the Army 
of the Cumberland. All the roads but one wretched path 
over the mountains were seized by the Confederates, and the 
army was reduced to such privations that the danger of star- 
vation was very great. Grant, who was en route to Chatta- 
nooga to direct operations there, ordered Thomas to hold out 
to the last. "I will hold the town till we starve," was the 
answer. 

After the arrival of Grant and Sherman at Chattanooga, the 
grand plan of operations against Bragg was arranged. The 
Army of the Cumberland, under General Thomas, was assigned 
the duty of beating back the Confederate centre. On the 23d 
of November, Thomas was ordered to reconnoitre Orchard 
Knob. He seized a favorable moment, and changing his re- 
connoissance into an attack, carried Orchard Knob with slight 
loss. In the grand attack on the 25th of November, he carried 
the crest of Mission Ridge, and broke the Confederate centre. 
He took part in the pursuit until it was checked by Grant's 
orders, and then returned with his army to Chattanooga, where 
he passed the winter. 

In the Spring of 1 864 Greneral Sherman, who had been placed 
in command of the Western army, advanced from Chattanooga 
towards Dalton, which was held by the Confederates under 
General Johnston. General Thomas retained the command of 
the Army of the Cumberland ; and of the one hundred thousand 
men and two hundred and fifty-four cannon, comprising the whole 
force under Sherman, sixty thousand seven hundred and thirty- 
three men and one hundred and thirty cannon were under the 
immediate orders of General Thomas, showing that Sherman, 
like all under whom Thomas had ever served, placed his chief 
reliance upon him. Thomas bore a leading and distinguished 
part in the campaign against Atlanta, and was especially con- 
spicuous in the operations against Dalton, in the fierce battle 
of Resaca, on the 14th and 15th of May, 1864, and in the bat- 



654 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

ties of the 20th of July and 31st of August, before Atlanta. 
The last engagement was fought by his army alone, and de- 
cided the fate of Atlanta, which was evacuated by Hood on the 
night of August 3 1st, and was occupied by Sherman's army the 
next morning. 

In September, Hood, having been reinforced, began his ill- 
starred march towards the Tennessee. Sherman at once sent 
Thomas to Nashville with full power to collect troops from all 
parts of his (Sherman's) Military Division, for the defence of 
Tennessee, and later, when, after following Hood into Alabama, 
he prepared to return to Atlanta to begin his march to the coast, 
he reinforced Thomas by sending him General Schofield, with the 
Fourth and Twenty-Second Army Corps. Sherman felt per- 
fect confidence that Thomas would cover his rear during his 
march to the sea. Had this confidence been lacking he would 
never have undertaken that march. He afterwards said, in re- 
ferring to this: "If Thomas had not whipped Hood at Nash- 
ville, 600 miles away, my plan§ would have failed, and I would 
have been denounced the world over. Biit I knew General 
Thomas, and the troops luider his cojnmand, and never for a mo- 
ment doubted a favorable residt." 

Schofield took with him nearly 30,000 men from Sherman's 
army, and at General Thomas's orders took position at Pulaski. 
Thomas established his headquarters at Nashville, determined 
to act upon the defensive until General A. J. Smith with two 
divisions of the Sixteenth Corps, and some regiments of cavalry, 
could join him. Hood's army lay at Florence, and consisted 
of about 30,000 infantry, less than 1 0,000 cavalry, and a strong 
force of artillery. Thomas believed that the expected additions 
to his force would enable him to meet his adversary upon an 
equal footing, and made great exertions to fortify Nashville, so 
as to be able to hold it until they could reach him. 

On the 17th of November Hood's army crossed the Tennes- 
see, and on the 19th began its advance towards Nashville. 
General Schofield, in obedience to orders, fell back steadily 
before him, skirmishing frequently with the advanced forces of 
the Confederates. On the 24th Schofield occupied Columbia, 
and held it until the 29th. Hood by a bold movement now 
attempted to seize Franklin, and intercept Schofield's retreat; 




WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. 



A 



GEORGE HENRY THOMAS. 655 

but the latter by a forced night march of twenty-five miles oc- 
cupied Franklin in advance of him on the morning of the 30th. 
Hood followed him closely, and upon arriving before Franklin, 
made a fierce attack upon Schofield with his whole force. 
The battle lasted through the greater part of the day, and at 
night Schofield, who had with difficulty held his ground through 
the day, fell back rapidly to Nashville, which was reached the 
next day. The Union loss in this battle was 2,326; that of the 
Confederates 6,252. 

Thomas was now joined by the long-looked-for reinforce- 
ments under General A. J. Smith, and taking command of the 
whole army, formed his line on the heights around Nashville. 
His infantry force was now equal to Hood's ; but he was sadly 
deficient in cavalry, while his adversary had the magnificent 
horsemen of Forrest under his orders. Under the circumstances 
Thomas decided to remain on the defensive until he could 
make good his lack of horse, for he meant not only to defeat 
Hood's army, but to destroy it ; and he could not do this with- 
out cavalry with which to pursue its broken columns beyond 
the Tennessee, without giving them time to rally. The War 
Department grew impatient with his delay, and Grant wrote to 
him that he was anxious for him to attack Hood at once. 
Thomas answered that he was acting as in his judgment seemed 
best; but that if his course was not satisfactory he hoped the 
Lieutenant-General would assign the command to some other 
officer ; that he would cheerfully act as his subordinate. Grant 
at once replied that he had more confidence in Thomas than in 
any other man, and that he might take his time ; but added 
that he would like to know his reasons for the delay. As these 
reasons were precisely what Thomas did not wish to be known, 
he did not state them; and Grant let him alone. Thomas's 
constant appeals for cavalry had their effect at last, and General 
Wilson, his chief of cav^alry, was ordered by the War Depart- 
ment to seize all the horses he could lay his hands on. By the 
end of a week after the receipt of this order, Thomas was able 
to mount a respectable force of cavalry, and by the 12th of 
December declared himself ready to move. 

Hood in the meantime had advanced from Franklin to Nash- 
ville, before which city he appeared on the ist of December. 



656 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Had he made an immediate assault upon the Union works, he 
might have had some chance of success; but he threw away 
his opportunity, and prepared to lay siege to Nashville, draw 
ing his lines entirely around the South side of the city, com- 
manding the river with his batteries, and seizing every line of 
communication with it except the railway to Louisville on the 
North. A fleet of eight gunboats in the Cumberland kept his 
river batteries occupied, and Thomas carefully strengthened 
his works. Hood seems to have been under the impression 
that by closely investing the city, he could play upon Thomas 
the game that Sherman had played upon him at Atlanta ; but 
Thomas had collected a sufficient amount of supplies at Nash- 
ville, and was careless about the investment. He only wanted 
time to mount his cavalry, and smiled to see how completely 
Hood's delay was placing the game in his hands. 

On the 14th of December, Thomas summoned his corps 
commanders to his headquarters, and informed them that he 
intended to attack the Confederate army the next day, should 
the weather prove favorable. He explained his plan to them, 
and urged upon each one the most scrupulous observance of 
his orders. 

Early on the morning of the 15th of December, it was found 
that the ice, which had covered the ground for several days, 
had melted away, so that the troops and horses could move 
without slipping. A thick fog hung over the country, afford- 
ing an excellent mask for the movements of the Union army. 
At an early hour General Steedman made a vigorous demon- 
stration against the Confederate right, and under cover of 
this movement, the divisions of Smith and Wood made a fierce 
attack on Hood's left and centre. The Confederates, who had 
believed that Thomas would await their assault, were taken 
completely by surprise, and their left was beaten back by a 
single blow. This let the cavalry loose, and Wilson's horse- 
men swept like a thunderbolt upon the left flank and rear of 
the Southern army. The Confederate left fell back sullenly 
upon its centre, which ocupied a strong position. Hood, seeing 
that his left was gone, brought over all the troops he could 
spare from his right to reinforce his centre, to which he clung 
with tenacity. The remainder of the day was passed by the j 



GEORGE HENRY THOMAS. 657 

Union army in reconnoitering Hood's centre, and in taking up 
positions from which to attack it on the morrow. 

When night came, matters stood thus : Thomas had struck 
a terrible blow at Hood; had greatly discouraged his army; 
had inflicted a heavy loss upon him in killed and wounded ; 
and had taken 1200 prisoners, and sixteen cannon. His own 
loss was slight. That night Thomas thus briefly stated to one 
of his officers his plan of operations for the next day: "So far, 
I think we have succeeded pretty well. Unless Hood decamps 
to-night, to-morrow Steedman will double up his right. Wood 
will hold his centre, Smith and Schofield will again strike his 
left, while the cavalry will work away at his rear." 

During the night of the 15th, Hood fell back from his origi- 
nal position to a new and powerful line, and reduced his front 
from six to three miles. He had fortified this line with great 
care at an earlier period of the siege, and it seemed that he 
could hold it against any force. He had committed the same 
terrible blunder that had helped to ruin him at Atlanta, how- 
ever, and had sent off his magnificent cavalry to capture a few 
steamers in the Cumberland, and had thus left open the road 
to his rear. 

At daylight on the i6th of December, the Union army moved 
forward, and passing over the abandoned works of the Confed- 
erates, soon arrived before their new position. Adhering to his 
original plan, Thomas threw Steedman's division against the 
Southern right, and moved up Wood's division in the centre. 
He ordered these commanders to do nothing but skirmish, and 
develop the hostile position, until the cavalry should gain the 
Confederate rear. As soon as the cavalry were in position, 
Schofield and Smith were to assail Hood's left, and Wood and 
Steedman were to convert their movements into real attacks, 
and press them with vigor. 

The cavalry had far to go, and it was not until the afternoon 
that Wilson announced himself in position by opening a heavy 
fire upon the Confederate rear. The other forces were then 
moved forward rapidly, and the Southern lines were broken 
and carried after a brief but desperate conflict. The Confed- 
erate troops fell back rapidly, and Thomas, urging his men 
forward with renewed energy, broke them into a disorganized 

mass, and drove them southward in confusion. 
42 



658 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

Hood's army was now utterly defeated. Its losses were 
frightful. During the 15th and i6th, the Union army captured 
4,462 prisoners, including 287 officers of all grades, from that 
of Major-general down, fifty-three cannon and thousands of 
small arms. The Confederates abandoned their dead and 
wounded, and retreated rapidly southward. The Federal cav- 
alry followed in close pursuit, harassing them at every step, 
until the 29th of December, when Hood succeeded in putting 
the Tennessee river between the remnants of his army and 
his pursuers. "With the exception of his rear guard (For- 
rest's cavalry)," says General Thomas, "his army had become 
a disheartened and disorganized rabble of half-armed and bare- 
footed men, who sought every opportunity to fall out by the way- 
side and desert their cause, to put an end to their sufferings." 

The campaign was now ended, and the invasion of Tennes- 
see, from which the Confederates had hoped so much, was an 
utter failure. Hood's army had been so completely broken 
up as to be unfit for further aggressive operations. The cap- 
tures of the Union army summed up as follows : Thirteen 
thousand, one hundred and eighty-nine prisoners of war, in- 
cluding seven general officers, eighty cannon, and thousands 
of small arms. The victory was complete, and the country 
rang with praises of General Thomas. The President of the 
United States conferred upon him the brevet rank of Major- 
general in the Regular army, to date from the 15th of Decem- 
ber, 1864, the day of the battle of Nashville. 

After the battle of Nashville, General Thomas sent off the 
bulk of his army, under General Schofield, to the Atlantic 
coast, to cooperate with General Sherman in his advance 
through the Carolinas. He took part in no other engagement 
during the war, and after the return of peace was assigned the 
command of the Military Division of the Tennessee, with head- 
quarters at Nashville. 

On the 27th of June, 1865, General Thomas was promoted 
to the full rank of Major-general in the army of the United 
States. After holding several important commands in the 
East, he was transferred to the Department of the Pacific, with 
his headquarters at San Francisco. He died in that city on 
the 28th of March, 1870, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. 




FARRAGUT. 



DAVID GLASGOE FARRAGUT. 

THE father of Admiral Farragut was a native of the Island 
of Minorca, in the Mediterranean. When quite a young 
man he emigrated to North America, arriving in this country 
in the year 1776, after the Revolution had fairly begun. He 
at once joined the American army, and by his gallantry and 
good conduct won the rank of major. At the close of the war 
he married Miss Elizabeth Shine, of North Carolina, and set- 
tled near Knoxville, in what was afterwards the State of Ten- 
nessee. 

David Glasgoe Farragut, the son of this worthy couple, 
was born at Campbell's Station, in Tennessee, on the 5th of July, 
1 80 1. He passed his childhood there, and in the pure, bracing 
atmosphere of the Tennessee mountains, grew up a stout, 
healthy lad. Doubtless his father's tales of the sea aroused in 
him the desire to be a sailor, which he evinced when a mere 
child. His wish was soon gratified, and in 18 10, when he was 
but nine years old, his father obtained from his friend Captain 
Porter a warrant for David as a midshipman. The boy at once 
joined his ship, and though scarcely large enough to climb the 
rigging, made several cruises under Captain Porter. 

Upon the breaking out of the war of 18 12, Captain Porter 
was placed in command the Essex, 32, and took young Farra- 
gut, now a lad of eleven, with him. The Essex got to sea from 
New York about the last of June, 1812, and sailed to the south- 
ward. She made several prizes in the early part of her cruise, 
and destroyed them, taking their crews on board as prisoners 
of war. About the middle of July the Essex encountered a 
small fleet of English transports, convoyed by a frigate and a 
bomb vessel. Porter stood in boldly among the Englishmen, 
and secured one of the vessels. The delay occasioned by this 
capture enabled the rest of the fleet to escape. Porter now 
disguised his frigate as a merchantman, in order to allay the 
suspicions of any English vessel he might fall in with, and a 

(659) 



66o AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

few days later a strange sail was made, .which proved to be an 
English man-of-war. Deceived by the appearance of the Essex, 
the stranger bore down upon her, and having overhauled her, 
set the English ensign, and opened fire upon her. The Essex 
at once knocked out her ports, and replied with a couple of 
broadsides, which so astonished the Englishman that his people 
deserted their guns and ran below. In eight minutes after the 
action began the stranger struck his colors. The prize proved 
to be the British sloop of war Alert, 20. This was the first 
prize taken from the English during the war, and was Farragut's 
first battle. 

The Essex continued her cruise for some weeks longer, 
meeting with several adventures, and at length returned to the 
Delaware. 

On the 28th of October, 18 12, the Essex, having refitted, 
sailed from the Delaware with a larger crew than usual, to join 
the squadron of Commodore Bainbridge in the West Indies. 
As she was deeply laden with supplies, she did not reach either 
rendezvous appointed by Bainbridge until the other vessels of 
the squadron had left. Failing to find the Commodore, Cap- 
tain Porter determined to continue his cruise on his own re- 
sponsibility, and to pass around Cape Horn into the Pacific, 
and drive the English whalers from that sea. After a tempest- 
uous passage the Pacific was reached on the 5th of March, 
1813. He made a large number of prizes, and occasioned such 
loss to the English whalers during his cruise in the Pacific, 
which lasted a little more than a year, that the British Govern- 
ment despatched the Phoebe, 36, and Cherub, 20, the latter 
armed with long guns, to the Pacific, wath orders to capture 
the Essex at any cost. Early in 18 14 these vessels arrived 
off Valparaiso, in which port the Essex, and Essex, Jr., one of 
the prizes taken by Porter, were lying. Porter made repeated 
offers to Captain Hillyar, of the Phoebe, to engage that ship 
alone, but that officer had positive orders from his Government 
not to attack the Essex except with the aid of the Cherub. 
At length Porter determined to go to sea and lead the enemy 
off the coast, thus allowing the Essex, Jr., to join him at sea, 
when he meant to give battle. He sailed from Valparaiso on 
the 28th of March, but upon getting off the harbor the Essex 



DAVID GLASGOE FARRAGUT, 66 1 

was struck by a sudden squall which carried away her main- 
topmast. In this crippled condition the Essex was attacked 
by the Phoebe and Cherub. Unable to beat up into the harbor, 
Porter was obliged to give battle. An action of over two hours 
ensued. The Essex, almost helpless in consequence of her 
accident, offered one of the most memorable defenses known 
to naval history. The coolness and resolution with which 
Porter fought his ship won the admiration of even the enemy, 
and it was not until the Essex was nearly half destroyed, and 
her decks were covered with her dead and wounded, that Porter 
ordered her colors to be struck. Her loss was 152, out of a 
crew of 255. The officers and crew of the Essex were placed 
on board the Essex, Jr., which was converted into a cartel, and 
were permitted to return home for exchange. 

Young Farragut had taken part in the eventful cruise of the 
Essex, and had discharged his duties in a manner that won 
for him the praise of his superior officers. In the fight with 
the Phoebe and the Cherub he bore himself with a courage 
and coolness unusual in a boy of twelve. He was slightly 
wounded in the side, but remained at his post, unmoved by the 
terrible scenes that were transpiring all around him. It was 
in this memorable engagement that he learned Jiozv to fight. 
Porter was delighted with the conduct of his pjvtege. In his 
report to the Secretary of the Navy, he made special mention 
of Farragut's conduct, and it was with evident regret that he 
was compelled to add, that in spite of his distinguished con- 
duct, the boy was " too young for promotion." The boy of 
twelve had fairly won a lieutenant's commission, and was only 
prevented from receiving it by his youth. 

Farragut was sent home with the paroled officers in the 
Essex, Jr., and Captain Porter had him placed at school at 
Chester, Pennsylvania, and caused him to be instructed in 
military tactics. 

After the close of the war Farragut was sent to sea again, 
and in 18 16 went on a cruise to the Mediterranean. The chap- 
lain of his ship, the Rev. Charles Folsom, conceived a warm 
friendship for him, and enabled him to atone greatly for his 
deficiency in education, by pursuing a course of study under 
his direction. Farragut was almost constantly in active ser- 



662 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

vice, but promotion comes slowly in time of peace, and it was 
not until 1825 that he reached the grade of lieutenant. Soon 
after his promotion he married a lady of Norfolk, Va., who 
survived this union but a few years. In 1 841, he was made 
commander, and in 185 1 was promoted to the rank of captain 
It had taken him forty-one years to reach this grade. The 
most of this time had been spent afloat, and during his long 
service he had sailed in every sea and had visited nearly every 
country on the globe. He had been an industrious reader, 
had stored his mind with valuable information, especially with 
reference to professional matters, and had acquired several for- 
eign languages. In the meantime he had married again, this 
time Miss Virginia Loyall, of Norfolk. 

At the outbreak of the civil war Captain Farragut was liv- 
ing at Norfolk, Virginia. It was generally supposed that as he 
was a Southerner by birth, and had married a Southern lady, he 
would quit the service of the United States and cast his lot with 
the Confederacy, as so many of his brother officers were do- 
ing. He had no intention of abandoning the service in which 
he had grown gray, however, and made no secret of his deter- 
mination to adhere to the Union. The fall of Fort Sumter 
brought matters to a crisis, and his friends, finding him resolute 
in his intentions, warned him that it would be dangerous to re- 
main in the South with such views, "Very well," he answered, 
"I will then go where I can live with such sentiments." That 
night he took the steamer for Baltimore, and hastened north- 
ward. The next day, the Navy Yard at Portsmouth was de- 
stroyed and abandoned by the officer in command of it. 

Upon reaching New York, Captain Farragut asked to be as- 
signed to duty ; but as the Government had but few ships at 
that time, his request could not be complied with. In the mean- 
time he took up his residence in the village of Hastings, on the 
Hudson. 

Late in the autumn of 1 861, the General Government resolved 
to attempt the capture of New Orleans by a joint land and na- 
val expedition. The command of the land forces was conferred 
upon Gen, B. F. Butler; but no commander was selected for 
the fleet until the preparations were nearly completed. The 
command was then conferred upon Captain Farragut, who was 



DAVID GLASGOE FARRAGUT. 



663 



raised to the grade of flag-officer. He was but little known to 
the country, and not much was expected of him. He received 
his orders on the 20th of January, 1862, and on the 3d of Feb- 
ruary sailed from Hampton Roads, in his flag-ship, the Hartford, 
for the rendezvous of the expedition at Ship Island, near the 
mouth of the Mississippi. After spending a short time at the 
rendezvous and completing his arrangements for the expedition, 
Farragut joined his other vessels, which had been engaged dur- 
ing th'e winter blockading the mouths of the Mississippi. He 
at^'once prepared to enter the river and attack the forts which 
barred the way to New Orleans. The task of getting the larger 
vessels over the bar was one of considerable difficulty, and he 
gave it his personal supervision. The powerful frigate Colorado 
could not be gotten over, but the rest, consisting of 6 war steam- 
ers, 16 gunboats, 5 other ships and 21 mortar boats, the last 
under the immediate command of Commodore Porter, the son 
of Farragut's old captain, crossed the bar and anchored below 

the forts. 

The banks of the Lower Mississippi are low and flat. A 
short distance above the head of the Passes by which the river 
empties into the Gulf of Mexico, two strong forts had been 
erected soon after the purchase of Louisana by the United States. 
The work on the west bank was named Fort Jackson ; that on 
the east bank, Fort St. Philip. They were powerful works, 
built in the most substantial manner ; were provided with an 
armament of 128 heavy guns, and were held by a garrison of 
1,500 Confederate troops, commanded by an officer of ability 
and experience. The Confederates had obstructed the channel 
between the forts by stretching a heavy chain across the river, 
supported on a number of hulks sunken in the stream. Above 
the forts lay a fleet of 17 vessels, 8 of which were gunboats, 
two of these being iron-clads. One of these, the Louisiana, 
was supposed to be the most powerful vessel afloat. The hold 
of the Confederates upon the river was so firm that it seemed 
impossible to shake it off". A French man-of-war went up the 
river to communicate with the French Consul at New Orleans, 
and on its return its officers declared to Farragut that he could 
never hope to get by the Southern batteries. " I am ordered to 
go to New Orleans," he replied, " and I intend to do so." 



664 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

On the 1 8th of April, 1862, the mortar-boats opened fire 
upon the forts, and for a week maintained a heavy bombard- 
ment of them. Farragut soon saw that the forts could not 
be reduced in this way, and that he must run by them, if he 
meant to get to New Orleans. He therefore summoned h. 
council of his officers, at the close of which he issued the fol- 
lowing general order to the fleet : 

" The Flag-officer, having heard all the opinions expressed 
by the different commanders, is of the opinion that whatever is 
to be done, will have to be done quickly. When, in the opinion 
of the Flag-officer, the propitious time has arrived, the signal 
will be made to weigh and advance to the conflict. * * He 
will make the signal for close action, and will abide the result- 
conquer or be conquered." 

Every exertion was now made to prepare the fleet for the 
hazardous attempt to pass the forts. While he gave to his 
commanders a large discretion in their arrangements, Farragut 
required them to conform to a general plan of his own, and 
gave his personal supervision to the work on every vessel of 
the fleet. At midnight on the 21st of April, a daring recon- 
noissance, led by Lieutenant Commanders Crosby and Caldwell, 
succeeded in cutting the chain across the channel of the river, 
which had already been weakened by a severe storm. The 
force of the current at once drove the hulks apart, and left a 
wide gap for the passage of the fleet. 

At last everything was in readiness. On the evening of the 
23d, Farragut visited each ship for the last time to satisfy him- 
self that nothing was lacking, and to hold a final conference 
with his commanders. He then returned to the flag-ship, and 
as the night came on a deep silence fell upon the fleet, which 
swung idly at anchor in the stream. At two o'clock on the 
morning of April 24th, two red lanterns slowly ascended to 
the mizzen-peak of the Hartford, and flashed out through 
the darkness the signal for "close action." In an instant the 
fleet was astir, and the sharp words of command, the rattle of 
chains as the anchors were raised, and the creaking of the ma- 
chinery as the steamers got under way, put an end to the 
silence of the night. 

The fleet consisted of seventeen vessels, carrying 294 heavy 



DAVID GLASGOE FARRAGUT. 665 

guns. It was formed in two columns. The right, led by Cap- 
tain Bailey, in the Cayuga, consisted of that vessel, the Pensa- 
cola, Mississippi, Oneida, Varuna, Katahdin, Kineo, and Wis- 
sahickon. It was to attack Fort St. Philip. The left, under 
Farragut's own orders, consisted of the Hartford, Brooklyn, 
Richmond, Scioto, Iroquois, Kennebec, Spinola, Itasca and 
Winona, and was to attack Fort Jackson. Porter was ordered 
to open fire on the forts with the mortar-boats, and to take 
position with the Harriet Lane, Westfield, Owasco, Miami, 
Clifton, and Jackson, to enfilade the Southern works during 
the passage of the fleet. 

The Confederates, in anticipation of some such movement, 
had kept a vigilant watch over the river, and the fleet had 
hardly gotten under weigh when the forts opened a heavy fire 
upon it. The fire was returned by the vessels, which advanced 
steadily, the Hartford leading the van, with the signal for " close 
action" blazing from her mizzen peak. The scene was sub- 
lime. The river was shrouded in dense volumes of smoke, 
through which darted the fierce flashes of the guns; and 
the roar of the cannonade was deafening. The forts fired 
rapidly, while the discharges from the vessels were incessant. 
Suddenly a lurid glare lit up the gloom, and a fire-raft came 
driving down the stream, making straight for the Hartford. 
The vessel's head was swung around to avoid this danger, and 
the next moment the Hartford was aground, with the blazing 
raft alongside of her. The flames instantly caught the rigging 
of the ship, and it seemed that the noble vessel was doomed 
to destruction. Such would have been her fate but for the 
splendid discipline which prevailed on board of her. The gun- 
ners were kept at their posts, and the terrible discharges of 
grape were poured in upon the forts without a moment's inter- 
mission, while the firemen were called away to fight the flames. 
The engines were reversed, and by a powerful effort the ship 
was backed into deep water again, but still on fire. The fire- 
men renewed their exertions, the flames were extinguished, and 
the Hartford went ahead again. 

The fleet moved forward steadily, and at length the forts were 
passed. Above them lay the Confederate fleet, commanded by 
officers of the old navy. The Louisiana and the Manassas were 



(i()^ AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

iron-clads, and six of their steamers were gunboats. The re- 
mainder were unarmed. They gallantly sought to drive back 
the advance of the Union fleet, and a fierce and obstinate con- 
flict ensued. When the sun arose, struggling through the mists, 
on the morning of the 24th of April, the spectacle u^hich he re- 
vealed was greeted with a thrilling cheer by the Union fleet. 
The forts had been passed, the Confederate fleet had been de- 
feated and thirteen out of its seventeen vessels had been sunk 
or destroyed, including the two iron-clads. The way to New 
Orleans was now open, and on the 25th the fleet anchored in 
front of the city, which was surrendered after some hesitation. 
On the 28th Forts Jackson and St. Philip surrendered to Cap- 
tain Porter. On the ist of May, Gen. Butler arrived from Ship 
Island with his troops, and Farragut turned the city over to 
him. 

Having secured the Lower Mississippi, Farragut ascended the 
river to take part in the operations against Vicksburg. Baton 
Rouge, the Capital of Louisiana, surrendered to him on his 
approach, and he continued to ascend the river until he arrived 
before the batteries at Vicksburg. Anchoring below the town, 
he demanded its surrender, but was answered that " Mississip- 
pians never surrendered." A steady fire was opened upon the 
town, and was maintained at regular intervals until the 28th of 
June, when Farragut with a part of the fleet left his anchorage, 
and began the ascent of the river. The batteries at once opened 
fire upon the vessels, which replied with spirit. The fleet, ar- 
riving opposite the town, lay in front of it for nearly two hours, 
maintaining a heavy cannonade which drove the gunners from 
their pieces and almost silenced their fire. Then putting on 
steam once more, the vessels passed the batteries and contin- 
ued on their way up the river. Farragut then addressed a note 
to Captain Davis, commanding the gunboat fleet in the upper 
Mississippi, asking his co-operation in an attack on Vicksburg. 
At the same time he wrote to the Government that, while he 
could easily run by the Vicksburg batteries and silence their 
fire, he could accomplish nothing of permanent value without 
the co-operation of a large land force. About the middle of 
July he again passed the batteries and rejoined his vessels be- 
low the town. Shortly afterwards he went back to New Or- 
leans. 



DAVID GLASGOE FARRAGUT. 66 J 

In order to maintain their hold upon the Mississippi, which 
was essential to their communication with the country beyond 
it, the Confederates greatly strengthened their works at Vicks- 
burg, and fortified Port Hudson about lOO miles below that 
place. General Grant was sent with a large army to operate 
against Vicksburg, and established his base of operations at 
Milliken's Bend, above the city. After many useless efforts 
from this direction. Grant determined to cross his army to the 
left bank of the Mississippi, below Vicksburg, and attack that 
place from the rear. Commodore Porter, who had succeeded 
to the command of the gunboat fleet above Vicksburg, was 
ordered to run a number his gunboats by the batteries to act 
as transports in the passage of the river by the army, and Far- 
ragut was directed to pass the Port Hudson batteries with his 
fleet and co-operate with Porter. 

The Port Hudson batteries were much stronger and more 
formidable than those at Vicksburg, and lined the river bank 
in several tiers for a distance of four miles. The effort to pass 
tliem was the severest test to which a wooden fleet had ever 
been subjected; but Farragut resolved to make it. He reached 
Prophet's Island, with his fleet and the mortar-boats, on the 
morning of the 17th of March. Having determined to make 
the attempt that night, he caused the mortar boats to open fire 
on the Southern batteries early in the afternoon, and sent a 
small land force towards the rear of Port Hudson to engage 
the attention of the Confederates. 

Lashing his ships together in pairs, Farragut started from 
Prophet's Island on the night of the 17th, to pass the batteries. 
Almost as soon as the fleet had started, the Confederates lighted 
large bonfires on the shore, which illumined the river with a 
glare as bright as the light of day, and made the Union vessels 
conspicuous marks for the Southern guns. A heavy fire was 
at once opened on the fleet, which responded rapidly and with 
effect, and soon the smoke was so thick over the river that the 
opposing parties could aim only at the flashes of the hostile 
guns. This added to the danger of the fleet, by rendering the 
vessels liable to fire into each other. An officer stood in the 
bow of each vessel straining his eyes to direct her course 
through the gloom, and a line of men was formed from him to 



6/0 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The ram Tennessee now made a dash at the Hartford, but 
immediately took refuge under the guns of the forts. Think- 
ing that the battle was over, Farragut sent the light draft ves- 
sels in pursuit of the gunboats. The Selma was captured by 
the Metacomet, and the Gaines was so badly damaged that it 
was necessary to destroy her. The Morgan escaped. Having 
sent these vessels off, the Admiral made the signal for the rest 
of the fleet to anchor. 

As this order was being executed, the Tennessee was seen 
to leave her place of refuge under the guns of the forts, and 
to stand boldly towards the flag-ship, evidently intending to 
sink her. Every available wooden vessel, and all the moni- 
tors, were at once ordered to open fire upon her, and to run her 
down. In a little while they were moving upon her from 
every direction, as she advanced rapidly into their midst. The 
Monongahela struck her first, and lost her prow in the collision. 
The Lackawanna followed next, and struck her a heavy blow, 
but withdrew seriously crippled, while the ram was uninjured. 
The Tennessee now made straight for the Hartford. The flag- 
ship put on all steam, and swept down upon her formidable 
adversary. Just before the crash came, the ram sheered, and 
received a glancing blow. Recoiling ten or twelve feet, the 
Hartford poured a rapid broadside upon the ram, which made 
no impression, however, on her plated sides, while the shot 
from the Tennessee went crashing through the wooden walls 
of the Hartford. The flag-ship now made a wide circuit to 
strike the ram again, and as she was bearing down upon her, 
was herself struck by the Lackawanna, which was making for 
the ram a second time. The Hartford was cut down to within 
two feet of the water, and was supposed to be sinking. Im- 
mediately the cry was raised, "Save the Admiral! Get the 
Admiral out of the ship!" From his lofty position the Ad- 
miral saw that his ship was still afloat, and immediately gave 
the order to put her about and ram the Tennessee again. The 
Tennessee had suffered terribly in this engagement, as she lay 
under the converging fire of the whole Federal fleet, and had 
been badly injured by it, and by the collisions she had received. 
Her smoke-stack was gone, and her steering chains were shot 
away. As the Hartford swept down upon her again, her flag 
was lowered, and the battle was over. 



DAVID GLASGOE FARRAGUT. 6/1 

Farragut's loss in this hard-fought battle was 222 killed and 
wounded, and one iron-clad. The victory was soon followed by 
the surrender of the forts, at the mouth of the bay, to Gen- 
eral Granger. 

Farragut remained with his fleet in Mobile Bay until No- 
vember, 1864, when, having received leave of absence, he sailed 
in the Hartford for New York, which he reached on the 12th 
of December. He was given a public reception, and in the 
same month was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral. On 
the 1st of January, 1865, he was presented with a gift of 
;^50,ooo by the citizens of New York. Honors were now 
showered upon him, and his fame was not confined to his own 
country. The Prince de Joinville, himself a gallant sailor, said 
of the battle of Mobile Bay : " The Americans there accom- 
plished a feat of arms of which they have reason to be proud, 
for there is not a more transcendant one in the naval history 
of our time ; and the skillfulness and energy shown on this oc- 
casion, as on so many others, by Admiral Farragut, incontest- 
ably place him in the first rank among the naval officers of all 
nations." 

The Admiral passed the winter with his family at Hastings, 
on the Hudson, and in the Spring of 1865 returned to blockade 
duty. The close of the war soon followed. 

In July, 1866, Congress having created the full rank of Ad- 
miral, for the especial purpose of rewarding his services, Far- 
ragut was advanced to that grade by the President. Soon after 
this he was placed in command of the magnificent new steam 
frigate Franklin, in which he visited the principal ports of the 
leading nations of Europe. He was everywhere received with 
the honors due to his great fame. After his return home his 
health failed rapidly, and for the last year of his life he was a 
constant sufferer. He died at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 
on the 14th of August, 1870, aged sixty-nine years. His body 
was conveyed to New York, and was buried in Woodlawn 
Cemetery, near that city. 



ROBERT E. LEE. 

THE Lee family, which has given so many great men to 
America, is of ancient and honorable descent. The 
founder of the American branch, Richard Lee, emigrated from 
Shropshire, in England, to Virginia, in the reign of Charles I., 
and settled in that part of Virginia lying between the Potomac 
and Rappahannock rivers, known as the Northern Neck. He 
was a zealous royalist, and occupied a prominent and honorable 
position in the Colony. His descendants fully maintained the 
traditional reputation of the family, and have furnished to 
American history some of its brightest names. The father of 
the subject of this memoir was the great-grandson of the 
founder of the family. 

Robert Edward Lee was born at Stratford House, in 
Westmoreland County, Virginia, on the 19th of January, 1807, 
in the same room in which Richard Henry and Francis Light- 
foot Lee were born. His father was General Henry Lee, the 
famous "Light Horse Harry" of the Revolution, and his 
mother was Matilda, daughter of Philip Ludwell Lee, of Strat- 
ford House. 

The boyhood of Robert Lee was passed in the Northern 
Neck, and a great part of it amid the stirring events of the 
Second War with England. When he was in his eighth year 
a British fleet under Admiral Cockburn ravaged the shores of 
the Chesapeake and Potomac, and the cities of Washington 
and Alexandria were occupied by the British forces. These 
events, occurring so near the home of young Lee, must have 
had something to do with the shaping of his future career. 

When he was twelve years old his father died. In 1825, 
being then eighteen years old, Robert Lee entered the Military 
Academy at West Point, where he remained four years, gradu- 
uating in 1829. He stood at the head of his class throughout 
his entire academic course, and never received a demerit or a 
reprimand. He was held in high esteem by his comrades, and 

(672) 



ROBERT E. LEE. 6/3 

was noted for his studious habits and exemplary conduct; he 
never used intoxicating liquors or tobacco, n'or indulged in 
any of the vices popular with young men. On the 4th of July, 
1829, he was graduated first in his class, and received the 
appointment of brevet second lieutenant in the corps of Topo- 
graphical Engineers. After a brief furlough he entered upon 
the duties of his profession, and was employed for several 
years upon the coast defences of the United States. In 1835 
he was appointed assistant astronomer for the demarcation of 
the boundary line between the States of Ohio and Michigan. 

In 1832, Lieutenant Lee married Mary, daughter of George 
Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of Washington and 
the grandson of Mrs. Washington. By this marriage the 
young officer became at a subsequent period the proprietor of 
Arlington House, in Alexandria County, Virginia, opposite 
Washington City, and of the White House, on the Pamunkey 
river, the scene of Washington's marriage with the "Widow 
Custis." Three sons and four daughters were the fruits of this 
marriage. Two of the sons became Major-Generals in the 
Confederate Army. 

In 1834 Lieutenant Lee was made assistant to the Chief 
Engineer of the army, and held that position until 1837. In 
September, 1836, he was promoted to the grade of first lieu- 
tenant, and in July, 1838, was appointed Captain of Engineers. 
Near about the same time he was placed in charge of the 
improvements of the harbor of St. Louis and the upper Mis- 
sissippi. In 1840 he was given charge of the improvements 
in the Ohio below Louisville, and those in the lower Missis- 
sippi. Towards the end of 1841 he superintended the con- 
struction and repair of the defences of the harbor of New York, 
and in 1844 was appointed a member of the Board of Visitors 
to the West Point Academy. He also held several other 
important positions. 

When the Mexican War broke out. Captain Lee, who was 
now regarded as one of the most accomplished officers in the 
service, was assigned to duty as Chief of Engineers in the 
army under General Scott, and served with great distinction 
throughout the war, winning high praise from all his superior 
officers, and especially from General Scott. He was twice 
43 



6/4 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

promoted for his services in Mexico. In 1847 he was bre- 
vetted Major for "gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle 
of Cerro Gordo," and later was made Lieutenant Colonel by 
brevet for his conduct at Contreras and Churubusco. General 
Scott conceived a warm personal friendship for his Chief 
Engineer, and a high admiration for his military skill. Lee 
became an especial favorite with him, and the Commander-in- 
Chief sent scarcely a despatch to Washington in which Lee's 
name was not honorably mentioned. So greatly did the vet- 
eran soldier esteem him, that he declared years afterwards, 
"Lee is the greatest military genius in America." 

After the close of the war Colonel Lee spent several years 
in the Engineer service, and in 1852, as a reward for his 
services at Chapultepec, in Mexico, was made Superintendent 
of the Military Academy at West Point. He held this posi- 
tion for three years, and during his administration the course 
of study was, by order of the Secretary of War, extended so 
as to cover a period of five years. 

In 1855 two new regiments of cavalry were formed. Albert 
Sidney Johnston was made Colonel of the Second Cavalry 
regiment, Lee Lieutenant-Colonel (the full rank) ; Hardee and 
Geo. H. Thomas were the Majors ; among the Captains were 
Van Dorn and Kirby Smith ; and among the lieutenants Hood, 
Fields, Fitzhugh Lee, Palmer, Stoneman and Torbert, all of 
whom rose to eminence during the Civil War. Lee served 
with his regiment in Texas, taking part in several severe 
battles with the Indians, until 1859, when he received leave 
of absence, and returned to his home in Virginia. In October, 
1859, John Brown made his attack upon Harper's Ferry, and 
captured the United States Arsenal at that place. Colonel 
Lee happening to be in Washington at the time, was sent to 
Harper's Ferry with a force of marines to recover the Arsenal. 
He attacked and captured Brown's party, and turned his pris- 
oners over to the United States civil authorities, by whom 
they were surrendered to the State of Virginia. Somewhat 
later Colonel Lee returned to Texas, and from February to 
December, i860, was in command of that department. In 
December, i860, he received leave of absence, and went back 
to Virginia. 



ROBERT E. LEE. 6/5 

In the meantime the agitation which preceded the withdrawal 
of the Southern States from the Union had begun, and Colonel 
Lee's native State had been drawn into it. The new govern- 
ment of the Confederate States had been organized, and in 
April occurred the conflict at Fort Sumter. On the 17th of 
April, 1 86 1, the Virginia Convention passed an ordinance of 
Secession, and called upon the people to take up arms in de- 
fence of the State. Colonel Lee had w^atched the course of 
events with painful anxiety, hoping that some peaceful settle- 
ment of the troubles could be had, and that his native State 
would find it consistent with her honor to remain in the Union. 
He held that his first duty was to his State, which had, if she 
chose to exercise it, an undoubted right to withdraw from the 
Union which she had helped to form, and that should she do 
so, and call upon her children to take up arms in her defence, 
he would have no choice but to quit the service of the United 
States and cast his lot with Virginia. He was influenced by 
no feeling of ambition, or sectional hatred; it cost him a long 
and bitter struggle to leave the service in which he had spent 
so many honorable years; and he regarded secession as ruin 
and anarchy. He felt that it was his duty to go with his State; 
and though he reluctantly formed that decision, he felt that it 
was none the less binding upon him. Every effort was made 
to retain him in the old service, and he was even offered the 
chief command of the United States army. He refused every 
offer, saying, " How can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my 
native State?" On the 20th of April, 1861, he resigned his 
commission in the Federal army, and repaired to Richmond. 
He was at once appointed Commander of the Virginia forces, 
and accepted the position. To the Convention which conferred 
this rank upon him he said: "Trusting in Almighty God, an 
approving conscience, and the aid of my fellow citizens, I de- 
vote myself to the service of my native State, in whose behalf 
alone will I ever again draw my sword." 

Early in May, 1861, Virginia joined the Confederate States, 
and her forces became a part of the Confederate army. The 
city of Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy. The 
Confederate Congress having created the rank of General, five 
persons were appointed to that rank, in the order named, viz: 



6/6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

S. Cooper, A. S. Johnston, R. E. Lee, J. E. Johnston, and P. 
T. Beauregard. For awhile General Lee was not given any 
active command, but was retained at Richmond as military ad- 
viser to President Davis. He caused Richmond and the ap- 
proaches to it to be properly fortified, and rendered the capital 
secure against a sudden attack. Late in the summer of 1861, 
he took command of the forces in West Virginia; but the cam- 
paign which ensued was unsuccessful, and subjected him to 
much criticism. After the fall of Port Royal, in South Caro- 
lina, General Lee was placed in command of the Coast Depart- 
ment, and during the winter and spring succeeded in placing 
it in an admirable state of defence. In March, 1862, he was 
recalled to Richmond, and assigned to duty under the orders 
of the President. His duties consisted in directing the opera- 
tions of all the armies of the Confederacy. 

General Joseph E. Johnston was severely wounded at the 
battle of Seven Pines, before Richmond, May 31st, 1862, and 
was succeeded by Major General G. W. Smith, who was phy- 
sically incafjable of holding the position. President Davis 
thereupon appointed General Lee, on the 3d of June, Com- 
mander of the Army of Northern Virginia. This army was 
posted on the line of the Chickahominy around Richmond, 
and was confronted by the Army of the Potomac under Gen- 
eral McClellan, which had succeeded in ascending the Penin- 
sula between the James and York rivers, and was threatening 
Richmond from the Chickahominy. 

General Lee's first efforts were directed to improving the 
discipline and equipment of his army, which was now strongly 
reinforced. He determined to attack McClellan at the earliest 
opportunity, and compel him to retreat from the line of the 
Chickahominy. On the 26th of June, having gotten his army 
in proper condition and nearly equal to the Federals in 
strength, and having drawn General Jackson's command from 
the Valley of Virginia, where it had won a number of brilliant 
victories, General Lee began the series of movements known 
as "the Seven Days' Battles." He defeated McClellan's right 
wing at Mechanicsville, and the next day, being joined by 
Jackson, struck it a crushing blow at Cold Harbor, and drove 
it from its position north of the Chickahominy. General Mc- 



ROBERT E. LEE, 6"]^ 

Clellan was forced by these disasters to his army to abandon 
his communications with the York river, and seek a new posi- 
tion on the James. His retreat began on the 29th, on which 
day occurred the battle of Savage Station, between portions of 
the two armies. McClellan retreated rapidly to the James 
river, fighting at Frazier's Farm, on the 30th of June, and at 
Malvern Hill on the ist of July. Fie succeeded in repulsing 
the attack upon him at Malvern Hill, but continued his retreat 
to Harrison's Landing on the James river, where he took up a 
new position on the banks of the river, under the protection of 
the Federal fleet. 

Having driven McClellan from before Richmond, General 
Lee now turned his attention to the region north of the Rap- 
pahannock, where the Federal Government was collecting a 
new army under General Pope, for an overland march to Rich- 
mond. He sent Jackson's corps in advance, and this force in- 
flicted a defeat upon Pope's advanced guard under General 
Banks, at Cedar Run, on the 9th of August, and checked the 
Federal movement into Virginia. As soon as he was satisfied 
that the P'ederal Government was withdrawing McClellan's 
army from the James to reinforce Pope, Lee moved his whole 
force to the Rappahannock, and joined Jackson. He formed 
the daring plan of attacking and destroying Pope's army before 
McClellan's forces could join him, and by a series of brilliant 
flank movements gained the rear of Pope's army, forced him 
back to the old battle field of Bull Run, and, besides several 
less important victories, gained a decisive success over him in 
the second battle of Bull Run, on the 30th of August. Pope's 
army, utterly demoralized by its reverses, retreated within the 
lines of Washington, having lost over 30,000 men and thirty 
pieces of artillery, during the brief campaign. 

General Lee now resolved to take advantage of Pope's de- 
feat to invade Maryland, in the hope of carr^nng the war out 
of Virginia. He crossed the Potomac on the 5th of Septem- 
ber, and advanced to Frederick, Maryland. Here he detached 
Jackson's corps to capture the important post of Harper's 
Ferry, which was held by a Federal garrison of about 11,000 
men, and with the remainder of his army moved to South 
Mountain, to await the result of Jackson's operations. Jack- 



678 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

son promptly invested Harper's Ferry, which surrendered on 
the 15th of September. 

In the meantime General McClellan had been placed in com- 
mand of the remnants of Pope's army, and had united them 
with his own forces. Moving cautiously from Washington, he 
advanced towards Frederick, reorganizing his army on the 
march. On the 12th of September he reached Frederick, and 
there found a copy of General Lee's confidential order to his 
corps commanders, giving his plan of campaign. This order 
had been lost by the officer to whom it was addressed, and its 
discovery gave McClellan a great advantage over his adversary. 
He moved forward boldly, and attacked the Confederates at 
South Mountain, on the 14th of September. It had been Gen- 
eral Lee's intention to allow the Federal army to pass South 
Mountain unmolested, as he had not expected that McClellan 
would arrive so promptly. As Harper's Ferry had not yet 
fallen, however, it was necessary to change this plan and to 
contest the passage of the mountain. Lee held his position 
until night-fall, and then retreated to the line of the Antietam 
creek, where he took position the next morning. Harper's 
Ferry fell the same day, and Jackson by a forced march re- 
joined General Lee on the banks of the Antietam, on the morn- 
ing of the 1 6th. Lee had with him now less than 40,000 men, 
while the Federal army was about 80,000 strong. On the 
17th McClellan made a determined attack upon the Confed 
erates, and the bloody battle of Antietam ensued. Lee held 
his position until nightfall put an end to the battle, and during 
the next day. On the night of the i8th, he retreated across 
the Potomac into Virginia. Though his Maryland campaign 
was a failure, he had good cause to be proud of the achieve- 
ments of his army during the summer. It had defeated three 
powerful armies in twelve battles and numerous skirmishes, 
inflicting upon the enemy a loss of nearly 76,000 men, of whom 
nearly 30,000 were prisoners, capturing 155 pieces of cannon, 
and nearly 70,000 small arms, and destroying many millions 
of dollars' worth of stores of various kinds. 

Lee moved slowly up the Valley of Virginia, and crossing 
the Blue Ridge, took up a strong position at Culpeper Court 
House. McClellan after a long delay followed him, and early 



ROBERT E. LEE. 679 

in November the two armies again confronted each other. 
McClellan was about to offer battle, when he was suddenly 
removed from his command, and replaced by General Burn- 
side. Burnside moved rapidly to Falmouth, opposite Fred- 
ericksburg, where he hoped to cross the Rappahannock, and 
place his army between Lee and Richmond. Upon reaching 
Falmouth, he found Lee's army strongly posted on the heights 
in the rear of Fredericksburg, barring his way to Richmond. 
On the nth and I2th of December, Burnside threw his army 
over the Rappahannock and occupied Fredericksburg. On 
the 13th he attempted to cany the Southern line by storm, 
but met with a bloody defeat, and retreated across the Rappa- 
hannock. 

During the winter no further effort was made by either army. 
General Burnside resigned his command, and was succeeded 
by Gen. Hooker. The Federal army was brought to a high 
state of efficiency. It was 120,000 strong, exclusive of the 
cavalry, which numbered 12,000, and was equipped with 400 
pieces of artillery. Its commander proudly termed it " the 
finest army on the planet." General Lee's army was weakened 
by the withdrawal of Longstreet's corps of 24,000 men, by 
order of the Confederate Government, for service elsewhere, 
and was barely 50,000 strong. 

General Hooker decided to attack Lee as soon as the roads 
would allow him to move his army. He began his march 
on the 27th of April, 1863, crossed the Rappahannock and 
Rapidan rivers, and moving to Chancellorsville, turned Lee's 
flank, and planted his army in the rear of the Southern position. 
Quickly peicieving his danger, Lee left a portion of his army 
to hold the heights of Fredericksburg, and with the remainder 
moved to Chancellorsville, where he attacked Hooker, and on 
the 2d and 3d of May inflicted a crushing defeat upon him, and 
drove him back to the junction of the Rappahannock and 
Rapidan rivers. He was preparing to storm this new position, 
when he learr.ed that a strong Federal force under General 
Sedgwick had crossed the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, 
had carried the heights and was marching against him. His 
danger was great, but leaving a part of his army to hold 
Hooker in cherk, he marched rapidly to meet Sedgwick, and 



680 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

defeated him at Salem Heights and forced him to retreat across 
the Rappahannock. He then moved back to attack Hooker, 
but that commander, disheartened by his reverses, retreated 
across the Rappahannock on the night of the 5th, having lost 
12,000 men. The victory of Chancellorsville cost the Confed- 
erates 10,000 men, and the life of General "Stonewall" Jackson, 
Lee's ablest subordinate. 

Lee's army was now rapidly reinforced until it reached a 
strength of 80,000 men, mostly veterans. Hooker's army, on 
the other hand, w^as reduced by desertions and expiration 
of enlistments to about the same strength. The Southern 
Government, anxious to counterbalance its reverses in the 
West and Southwest by a great success, resolved to follow up 
the victory at Chancellorsville by an invasion of the North by 
Lee's army. Lee began his forward movement on the 3d of 
June, 1863, and marching through the Valley of Virginia, 
crossed the Potomac at Williamsport on the 23d. The Federal 
army, the command of which had passed to General Meade, 
followed him' cautiously. The objective point of both armies 
was Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The advanced forces came in 
conflict quite by accident at that place on the afternoon of the 
1st of July; the Confederates had decidedly the advantage in 
this engagement, but the Federal forces succeeded in occupy- 
ilig a strong position. Both armies were now hurried forward, 
and General Meade resolved to hold the line of heights which 
his advanced guard had secured, and await Lee's attack. On 
the 2d of July there was sharp, but indecisive fighting ; and 
on the 3d, General Lee made a resolute effort to carry the 
Federal position by storm. He met with a bloody repulse. 
On the night of the 4th he withdrew from Gettysburg, and 
retreated in good order to the Potomac. Reaching Williams- 
port he found the river too much swollen to permit him to 
cross it. He entrenched his position, assumed a bold front, and 
remained on the bank of the river from the 6th to the night of 
the 13th of July; when the water having fallen sufficiently, he 
retreated into Virginia, the Federal army making no effort to 
interfere with him. Lee withdrew up the Valley of Virginia, 
crossed the Blue Ridge and marched to the Rapidan. Meade 
followed closely, but made no effort to attack him, and took 



ROBERT E. LEE. 68 1 

position on the north side of the Rapidan. The remainder of 
the year was passed without any movement of an important 
nature, and large detachments were drawn from both armies 
for service in the West. 

Early in March, 1864, General Grant, whose brilliant suc- 
cesses in the West and Southwest had won him the leading 
position in the Federal army, was raised to the grade of Lieu- 
tenant- General, and was placed in command of all the armies 
of the Union. He assumed the immediate command of the 
Army of the Potomac, which was brought to the strength of 
140,000 men. The army under General Lee numbered about 
50,000 men. The general principle upon which the Federal 
commander conducted the campaign which ensued was that 
the great object to be attained was the destruction of the 
Confederate army rather than the capture of any particular 
place. He therefore determined not to make a direct attack 
upon Lee, but to turn his right flank, draw him from his strong 
position, and force him to fight in the open country, where the 
superior numbers of the Federals would tell against him. On 
the morning of the 4th of May, 1864, the Federal army crossed 
the Rapidan, and turning the right of Lee's position, entered 
the densely wooded region known as " The Wilderness." 
Grant appears to have supposed that Lee, finding his flank 
turned by a superior force, would fall back towards Richmond. 
Lee, however, resolved tp attack his adversary while moving 
through the wooded country, in which the Federal superiority 
in strength would be neutralized to a considerable extent by 
the character of the country. He struck a bold and skillful 
blow at the Federal army in the Wilderness, near the old 
battle-field of Chancellorsville, on the 5th and 6th' of May. 
The battle was one of the bloodiest of the war, but was inde- 
cisive; and on the 7th Grant moved around Lee's right, and 
marched towards Spottsylvania Court House. Lee at once 
detected his design, and by a forced march reached Spottsyl- 
vania Court House in advance of his antagonist, and secured 
a strong position, which he proceeded to entrench. Grant 
made repeated but unsuccessful efibrts to carry the Southern 
position; and on the 12th of May occurred the bloody battle 
of Spottsylvania Court House, in which the Federal army was 



682 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

repulsed. Grant had now suffered a loss of over 40,000 men 
since the opening of the campaign, and finding it impossible 
to force the Southern lines, moved once more to the right in 
the direction of Richmond. Lee met every manoeuvre by a 
counter movement, acting on the defensive throughout. By 
the last of May the two armies confronted each other on the 
Chickahominy, in sight of Richmond. After some indecisive 
fighting, Grant made a general attack upon Lee's strongly 
intrenched position at Cold Harbor, on the 3d of June, and 
was repulsed with a loss of 13,000 men. For ten days the 
two armies lay opposite each other, but on the 13th of June 
Grant abandoned his position, marched down the Chickahominy 
to the James, crossed the latter river, and endeavored to seize 
Petersburg, south of the James, by a sudden blow. Lee fell 
back behind the Chickahominy, and, dividing his force, under- 
took the defence of both Petersburg and Richmond. 

Petersburg being the key to the railroad system connecting 
Richmond with the Southern States, the fall of that place 
would compel the abandonment of Richmond. The efforts 
of General Grant's army, therefore, were from this time directed 
to the capture of Petersburg. The siege was conducted with 
vigor, and was marked by numerous battles of more or less 
importance. All the while the Confederate army was wasting 
away by the slow processes of sickness and death. There 
were no more men to be had; the South was exhausted, and 
it was only a question of time as to when the end would 
come. Thus the autumn and winter wore away. 

When the spring opened General Grant resolved to bring 
the war to an end, for it was plain to him that Lee's weak 
force could not resist the advance of his powerful army, which 
had just been reinforced by Sheridan's magnificent division of 
cavalry. The force under his command numbered 170,000 
men; while Lee had with him less than 40,000 troops. On 
the 29th of March, 1865, the advance of the Federals was 
begun. Leaving the bulk of his forces before Petersburg, 
Grant moved with the remainder around Lee's right, and in a 
series of engagements succeeded in planting himself upon 
Lee's line of communication with the South. As soon as 
this success was won, the Federal forces left in front of Peters- 



ROBERT E. LEE. 683 

burg opened a heavy fire upon the Confederate Hnes before that 
place, commencing in the afternoon of the ist of April, and 
continued the bombardment through the night. On the 
morning of the 2d of April, these forces made a determined 
attack upon Lee's line, and broke it at several points. General 
Lee was now forced to assume a new and shorter line imme- 
diately around Petersburg. The Federal army made a vigorous 
effort to force its way into the town, but was repulsed. 

The fate of Petersburg was now decided. It was impossible 
to hold it longer. On the night of the 2d of April, General 
Lee withdrew his army from Richmond and Petersburg, and 
retreated in the direction of Amelia Court House. His in- 
tention was to move towards Danville, and endeavor to join 
Johnston, who was retreating through North Carolina before 
Sherman. Lee's entreat was discovered on the morning of the 
3d of April, and the Federal army, leaving small detachments 
to occupy Petersburg and Richmond, set off in pursuit, follow- 
ing the line of the South Side railroad. 

Upon reaching Amelia Court house, General Lee found that 
the supplies he had ordered to be sent there from Danville, 
were not to be had. The trains sent from Danville by his in- 
structions had been ordered to Richmond to remove the prop- 
erty of the Confederate Government, and had not been allowed 
to unload their stores at Amelia Court House. This was a 
terrible blow to Lee, who was now unable to furnish food to his 
troops, who had eaten nothing since the commencement of the 
retreat. Parties were sent into the surrounding country to 
obtain supplies, and this consumed the whole of the 4th and 
5th of April, which Lee had hoped to spend in pushing on be- 
yond his pursuers. The delay enabled Sheridan, with 18,000 
mounted men, to seize the Confederate line of retreat at Jeters- 
ville. This movement put an end to Lee's hope of reaching 
Danville and joining Johnston. A battle would have been 
madness, for Sheridan had a force nearly equal to his own, and 
Grant with the rest of his arrtiy was within supporting distance. 
General Lee therefore turned off, and retreated towards Farm- 
ville, hoping to be able to reach Lynchburg ; but Sheridan, 
after passing Farmville, pushed forward again, and by a forced 
march reached Appomattox Station, on the South Side railroad. 



684 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

on the night of the 8th, and planted his force squarely across 
the Confederate line of retreat. The next morning, Lee, when 
near Appomattox Court House, discovered this obstacle in his 
way, and about the same time Sheridan was joined by the 
Army of the James, under General Ord, while the Army of the 
Potomac, under General Meade, was fast closing upon the Con- 
federate rear. General Lee had now but eight thousand men 
with arms in their hands; the bulk of his forces, being too 
much broken down by fatigue and hunger to keep their places 
in the ranks, accompanied their comrades in a disorganized 
mass. General Grant now invited General Lee to surrender his 
army, but the latter declined to do so. As soon as he discov- 
ered Sheridan in his front, Lee attempted to cut his way 
through the Federal line, but failing in his effort, and being 
convinced that further resistance would be merely a useless 
sacrifice of his men, he asked for a suspension of hostilities, and 
went to meet General Grant. The two commanders met at a 
house in the village of Appomattox Court House, on the 9th of 
April, and arranged the terms of the surrender. These were, 
in substance, that the Confederate officers and the men under 
their command should not thereafter serve in the armies of 
the Confederate States, or in any military capacity against the 
United States of America, or render aid to the enemies of the 
latter, until properly exchanged in such manner as should be 
mutually approved by the respective authorities ; and that 
they would not be disturbed by the United States authorities 
so long as they observed their paroles and the laws in force 
where they should reside. The officers were allowed to retain 
their side-arms, and both officers and men were permitted to 
keep the horses which belonged to them individually, in order 
that they might betake themselves as soon as possible to the 
cultivation of the soil. About seventy-five hundred men laid 
down their arms, and about twenty thousand unarmed strag- 
glers took part in the surrender. The Federal troops treated 
their vanquished opponents with soldierly kindness, and care- 
fully refrained from all demonstrations that might seem to 
insult their misfortunes. 

General Lee returned to Richmond immediately after the 
surrender, and reached the city on the afternoon of the 12th. 



ROBERT E. LEE. 685 

Those who did not know him were surprised at the calmness 
and cheerfulness exhibited by him at this time; but to his 
friends his demeanor was neither strange nor unexpected. 
They knew that his tranquility and cheerfulness proceeded from 
an intelligent conviction that throughout the war he had done 
his entire duty, and that events had been shaped by a stronger 
Arm than his. Thus convinced he never repined. He met 
adversity with the same self command he had displayed in the 
midst of success, and with true Christian fortitude bowed in 
submission to the will of God. For the misfortunes of the 
Southern people he grieved silently and strongly, and strove 
by every means in his power to help them to make the best of 
their troubles. He counselled submission to the General Gov- 
ernment, and wishing to set the example of entire submission, 
made application to the President for pardon in accordance 
with an act of Congress. The application was cordially en- 
dorsed by General Grant, through whom it was made, and a 
warrant of pardon was at once issued by President Johnson 
in accordance with the terms of the law. 

General Lee's fortune had been almost entirely swept away 
by the war, and it was necessary for him to obtain some means 
of support. In October, 1865, he accepted the Presidency of 
Washington College, at Lexington, Va., a position thoroughly 
congenial to his tastes. Under his able management the col- 
lege prospered very greatly, and students were drawn from all 
parts of the Union. 

General Lee took no part in public life after the close of the 
war. He found great happiness in the modest but useful labors 
to which he devoted himself, and in the peaceful seclusion of 
his own home. In March, 1866, he appeared as a witness be- 
fore the Reconstruction Committee of Congress. He testified 
that as far as he knew, the people of the South did not con- 
template any resistance to the Government of the United 
States, and were in favor of the reconstruction policy of Presi- 
dent Johnson; that they expected to pay their proportion of 
the national debt, and would be willing also to pay the Con- 
federate debt; and that the people of Virginia regarded the 
action of the State in seceding from the Union as carrying 
the individuals of the State along with it; that the State, not 



686 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

individuals, was responsible, and was merely using a lawful re- 
served right. 

It was General Lee's fortune to be exempted from the bit- 
terness with which the Northern people regarded the leaders 
of the " Lost Cause." His high character, his spotless record 
during the terrible struggle, and the simple dignity with which 
he rose above his misfortunes, won him the unqualified admi- 
ration of his former foes; and surely no higher tribute than 
this can be accorded to any man. When a few reckless parti- 
sans sought to charge him with acts of cruelty and injustice 
during the war there was an emphatic protest from the North- 
ern people which silenced them. 

The terrible strain, both mental and physical, to which he 
was subjected during the last year of the war, did much to un- 
dermine the vigorous health of General Lee. He felt his fail- 
ing powers, and is said to have remarked to his friend and 
pastor. Dr. Pendleton, some time in 1868, that he did not ex- 
pect to live more than two years longer, a premonition which 
was unhappily realized. 

Early in September, 1 870, he was stricken with what was 
believed to be an attack of nervous prostration, but recovered 
from it. On the afternoon of September 28th, he attended a 
meeting of the Vestry of the Episcopal Church at Lexington, 
of which body he was a member. Important business de- 
tained him until after seven in the evening, when he returned 
home. His family were at supper, and as he seated himself at 
the table Mrs. Lee said to him, " Robert, you are late; we have 
been waiting for you. What detained you?" Receiving no 
answer, Mrs. Lee repeated her question, and then looking up 
saw the General with his hand at his watch pocket, but mo- 
tionless. His son. General Custis Lee, sprang to his father's 
side, and found him speechless. Medical aid was summoned, 
and the General regained the power of speech. He seemed to 
rally, and though he kept his bed his symptoms were favorable 
until Monday, October loth, when he suddenly grew worse, 
and continued to fail rapidly. He suffered comparatively little 
pain during his whole sickness. Once or twice his mind wan- 
dered and his thoughts reverted to the army. At one time he 
ordered that his tent should be struck, and at another desired 



ROBERT E. LEE, 6%"/ 

that General A. P. Hill should be sent for. He continued to 
sink, and on the morning of Wednesday, October 12th, 1870, 
at half-past nine o'clock breathed his last. The proximate 
cause of his death was mental and physical fatigue, inducing 
nervous congestion of the brain, which gradually caused cere- 
bral exhaustion and death. 

The news of his death was at once telegraphed throughout 
the country. The South gave way to the deepest grief, for 
General Lee was personally dear to every Southern heart. In 
the North there was a very general feeling of regret at his 
death, and the press of that section united in a sincere tribute 
to the virtues and genius of the dead chieftain. 




THOMAS J. JACKSON. 

THE subject of this memoir was of English descent. His 
great grandfather, John Jackson, emigrated to this country 
at a very early day, and settled upon the South bank of the 
Potomac, in Virginia. He did not remain there long, however, 
but removed to what is now Lewis County, in West Virginia. 
One of his sons, Edward Jackson, was surveyor of Lewis 
County, and subsequently represented the county in the State 
Legislature. His son, Jonathan Jackson, who was born in 
Lewis County, removed to the town of Clarksburg, in Harrison 
County, for the purpose of studying law with his cousin, Judge 
John G. Jackson, of that place. In due time he received his 
license, and entered upon the practice of his profession, with 
his cousin. Judge Jackson. By his practice he acquired some 
reputation and property. He married Miss Neal, a daughter 
of Thomas Neal, of Wood County. By this lady he had four 
children — two sons and two daughters. 

Thomas Jonathan Jackson, the youngest of these children, 
was born at Clarksburg, in Harrison County, Virginia, on the 
2 1st day of January, 1824. When he was scarcely three years 
old his father died, and his mother soon followed. Before his 
death Mr. Jackson became involved as security for some of his 
friends, and as a logical consequence his property was swept 
away. His children were thus left without any means of sup- 
port. 

Shortly after the death of his parents, Thomas was taken by 
an uncle to Lewis County. This uncle was living on the farm 
on which the father of Thomas had been born, and there the 
orphan boy remained until he reached the age of seventeen 
years. During this period he spent a portion of his time in 
working on the farm, and the remainder in attending an old 
field school in the neighborhood, where he received the rudi- 
ments of a plain English education. 

From his earliest childhood he exhibited a remarkable de- 

(688) 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 689 

gree of self-reliance and energy. He was quiet and reserved, 
but kind and gentle in his disposition and manner. He studied 
hard while at school, and was prompt and faithful in the dis- 
charge of his duties. These qualities, exhibited in a degree 
remarkable in one so young, could not fail to attract the atten- 
tion, and win the admiration of his neighbors, nor were they 
allowed to pass unrewarded. The people of Lewis County, 
wishing to assist the young man so bravely struggling to raise 
himself in the world, conferred upon him the office of consta- 
ble of the county when he was but sixteen years old. He ac- 
cepted the appointment, and in spite of his extreme youth, 
discharged the duties of the office with marked fidelity and 
success. 

When he was seventeen years old, he learned that there was 
a vacancy from his Congressional district in the United States 
Military Academy at West Point, and determined to apply for 
it. He set off on foot from Lewis County, and walked a long 
distance to a point from which he could take the stage to 
Washington City. Arriving there, he sought out Mr. Hays, 
the member of Congress from his district, and travel stained, 
and with his face flushed with excitement, presented himself 
before him, and told him that he wanted the place at West 
Point, then vacant. Astonished and amused by such a request 
coming from one who seemed so humble and so unsuited to 
the position, Mr. Hays endeavored to dissuade him from trying 
to enter West Point. But the energetic youth was not to be 
discouraged, and in the conversation evinced such a marked 
degree of intelligence that his application was successful, and 
he received the desired appointment. 

He entered the Military Academy in 1842, and remained 
there four years. He was noted for his unwavering attention 
to his duties. His sense of duty was always very high, and 
his performance of it most faithful. It was necessary for him to 
study very hard, as his early education had been deficient, and 
he had many difficulties to overcome. He was never content 
with a partial knowledge of anything; his mmd never relaxed 
its grasp upon a subject until he had thoroughly mastered it. 
On the 1st of July, 1846, Cadet Jackson was graduated with 
high distinction, and was breveted second lieutenant, and as- 
44 



690' AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

signed to the First Regiment of Artillery in the United States 
army. 

The war with Mexico had begun, and the regiment to which 
Lieutenant Jackson was assigned was already with Gen. Tay- 
lor's army in Mexico. As soon as he received his orders he 
set out for Mexico, and. joined Gen. Taylor's army late in the 
year 1846. He did not see any active service with this army. 

Early in 1847 troops were drawn from Taylor, and sent to 
the island of Lobos, where General Scott was organizing an 
expedition against the city of Vera Cruz. Lieutenant Jackson 
was ordered to this point with his battery. He bore a distin- 
guished part in the siege of Vera Cruz, for which he was pro- 
moted to the rank of First Lieutenant. He took part in the 
battles of Cerro Gordo, Churubusco, El Molino Del Rey, and 
Chapultepec, and the capture of the city of Mexico, serving as 
a lieutenant in Magruder's famous light battery. In each of 
these battles he greatly distinguished himself, and was suc- 
cessively breveted Captain and Major, rising during the cam- 
paign from the grade of brevet second lieutenant to that of 
Major — a series of promotions unequaled by those of any 
other person connected with the army of General Scott. 

The severe service in which he was engaged in Mexico, and 
the effects of the climate of that country, so impaired the health 
of Major Jackson, that shortly after the close of the war he was 
forced to resign his commission, and retire to private life. 

In 185 1, he applied for and received the appointment of 
Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and As- 
tronomy, and the post of Instructor in Artillery Tactics, in the 
Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington. The appointment 
was made in March, 1851, and he immediately entered upon 
the discharge of his duties, and retained this position until the 
spring of 1861. 

While living in Lexington he made a profession of religion, 
and connected himself with the Presbyterian Church, of which 
he became an active and zealous member. He gave great at- 
tention to the religious instruction of the negroes, and was 
very prpud of the success of his efforts in this direction. Soon 
after his removal to Lexington he married Miss Junkin, daugh- 
ter of the Rev. Dr. Junkin, the President of Washington Col- 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 69 1 

lege. The lady did not long survive her marriage. She left 
one child, who died in infancy. Some years afterwards, Major 
Jackson married Miss Morrison, of North Carolina, who is still 
living. By ihis second marriage he had one child, a daughter, 
born a few months before his death. 

Major Jackson was not as popular among the Cadets of the 
Military Institute as were some of the other professors; but 
none of the professors possessed in such an exalted degree 
their respect and deference. He was quiet, and sometimes 
stern, in his deportment. He had many little peculiarities of 
manner, which afforded much amusement to his pupils. He 
was looked upon as eccentric and "queer," but no one ven- 
tured to be familiar with him. In the class-room he would sit 
perfectly erect and motionless, holding his pencil in one hand 
and his class book in the other, listening with grave attention, 
and exhibiting the great powers of his wonderful memory, 
which was the most remarkable that has ever come under the 
observation of the writer, who was for several years a pupil of 
Major Jackson. The course he taught was the most difficult 
and complicated known to mathematicians, running through 
at least half a dozen text books. In listening to a recitation 
he very rarely used a book. He was ready at any moment 
to refer to any page or line of any of the books in his course, 
and then to repeat with accuracy any passage referred to, giv- 
ing the page and volume. Punctuality and promptness were 
amongst his most striking characteristics, and he earnestly 
strove to impress these qualities upon his pupils. 

In the spring of iS6i, this peaceful life of Major Jackson 
was broken up by the opening of the civil war. He had fore- 
seen these troubles, and had done what lay in his power to 
avert them. When the State of Virginia withdrev/ from the 
Union, he decided to share her fortunes. He had made his 
course the subject of long and prayerful meditation, and he had 
come to the deliberate conclusion that his native State had the 
right to command him. Immediately upon the secession of 
the State he offered his services to the Governor of Virginia, 
and was commissioned a Colonel in the State forces and placefl 
in command of the "Camp of Instruction" established near 
Richmond. He left Lexington on the 20th of April, 1861, and 



692 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

upon reaching Richmond assumed command of the camp. 
He devoted himself energetically to the duty of organizing and 
disciplining the large bodies of raw troops that came in daily 
from all parts of the State ; but as he was neede^ elsewhere, 
did not remain long in this position. He was placed in com- 
mand of Harper's Ferry, which had been occupied by the State 
troops, and was ordered to put the post in a state of defence. 
He reached Harper's Ferry on the 2d of May, 1861, and on 
the 23d of the month was relieved by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, 
who had been given the command of all the Confederate forces 
in the valley of Virginia. Colonel Jackson therefore assumed 
the command of the first brigade of Johnston's army. 

When the Federal army under Gen. Patterson entered the 
valley of Virginia, General Johnston evacuated Harper's Ferry, 
and marched to meet him. On the 20th of June he sent Colo- 
nel Jackson with his brigade to the neighborhood of Martins- 
burg, to watch Patterson and check his advance. Colonel 
Jackson destroyed the railroad at Martinsburg, brought off a 
large number of locomotives and destroyed many more, and 
on the 2d of July, attacked the advanced guard of Patterson's 
army at Falling Waters, and checked its forward movement. 

About the middle of July the Federal army under General 
McDowell advanced from Alexandria to attack the Confeder- 
ates under General Beauregard, at Manassas Junction. Beau- 
regard at once moved forward to Bull Run, and took position 
on the banks of that stream. General Johnston was promptly 
informed of McDowell's movement. Skillfully eluding Patter- 
son, who was ordered to detain him in the valley, Johnston 
crossed the mountains, reached Bull Run and joined Beaure- 
gard. Jackson, who had now been promoted to the rank of 
Brigadier General, led the advance of Johnston's army. He 
bore a prominent part in the battle of Bull Run, on the 2ist of 
July, and was slightly wounded towards the close of the day. 
At the crisis of the battle. General Bee, whose brigade had suf- 
fered horribly, and was being steadily beaten back, rode up to 
General Jackson, and exclaimed in a voice of anguish, "General, 
they are beating us back." "Then sir," replied Jackson, in his 
short, curt way, "we'll give them the bayonet." Placing him- 
self at the head of his brigade, he shouted, "Forward;" and led 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 693 

his men in a brilliant charge which drove back the Federal 
line. Bee hastened back to his own line, and pointing to 
Jackson's command, cried enthusiastically, " Look yonder! 
there is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine 
to die here, and we will conquer. Follow me !" His shattered 
column followed him with a will, and succeeded in regaining 
the position from which they had been driven. 

The appeal of General Bee to his troops was repeated 
throughout the army, and the men, as a mark of their admi- 
ration for the gallant Virginian, bestowed upon him the flatter- 
ing title of" Stonewall Jackson." This name, so characteristic 
of him, was readily adopted by the troops and people of the 
South, and was so universally applied to him that many persons 
believed it to be his proper name. This gave rise to some 
amusing incidents. It is said that upon one occasion he re- 
ceived a letter addressed to " General Stone IV. jfacksony 

For his services at Bull Run, General Jackson was promoted 
to the rank of Major General in the Confederate army, and in the 
fall of 1 86 1 was placed in command of the valley of Virginia, 
with his headquarters at Winchester. His new command was 
most important, and he realij^ed this more fully than did the 
authorities at Richmond. By the close of the year 1861, his 
army numbered 10,000 men. The Federal Government had 
collected strong forces at Bath, in Morgan County, and at 
Romney, Hampshire County, and these forces committed such 
havoc in the valley, that General Jackson resolved to drive 
them from their positions. Accordingly he set out from Win- 
chester, on the 1st of January, 1862, and attacked the Federal 
forces successively at Bath and Hancock, in Maryland, and 
drove them back. He then marched towards Romney, which 
was held by General Kelley, who retreated at his approach. 

Having forced the Federals back at all points, Jackson re- 
turned to Winchester. His expedition was undertaken in the . 
depth of the winter, and during a terribly trying season. The 
roads were covered with ice and snow, and the troops suffered 
very greatly. It was Jackson's intention to hold the ground 
he had won, and for this purpose he left a strong advanced 
guard in the direction of the Potomac. He fully appreciated 
the necessity of keeping the Federal forces out of the Valley 



694 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

of Virginia, which he declared was the key to the whole State. 
"If the Valley is lost," he said, "Virginia is lost." He ear- 
nestly appealed for re-inforcements ; but the guileless Israelite 
who presided at that time over the War Department at Rich- 
mond, could never rise to a proper appreciation of the situation 
of affairs. The desired re-inforcements were withheld, General 
Jackson's forward movement was severely censured, and he 
was ordered to withdraw his advanced forces from the Poto- 
mac, and directed to go into camp at Winchester and watch 
the enemy. Jackson promptly obeyed his orders, and, indig- 
nant at the censure and interference of the War Department, 
tendered his resignation. He was with great- difficulty pur- 
suaded to withdraw it. 

As General Jackson had foreseen, the Federal Government 
was quick to appreciate the advantages of a possession of the 
Valley. In the early part of 1862, a force of 35,000 men, un- 
der General Banks, crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, and 
moved into the Valley. On the evening of the 26th of Febru- 
ary, this force occupied Charlestown, in Jefferson county. This 
column was destined for the invasion of the Valley, and the an- 
nihilation of the little army under General Jackson, which now 
numbered scarcely four thousand men. McClellan had begun 
his advance in Northern Virg-inia, Johnston's army was falling 
back from Centreville, and Jackson had no assurance of assist- 
ance from any quarter. The column under General Banks was 
already many times his own strengtli, the Federal forces 
under General Kelley, on the upper Potomac, were within three 
days march of Banks, and the Federal army in West Virginia 
could, if necessary, move into the Valley in support of the 
army there. The position of General Jackson was therefore 
perilous in the extreme, and for awhile it seemed that his little 
army would be overwhelmed by the immense force marching 
against it. The Confederate Government seriously entertained 
the thought of withdrawing him east of the mountains and 
abandoning the Valley. He alone was hopeful, and continued 
to demand reinforcements. "Though the troops under my 
command are inadequate to the defence of this district," he 
wrote, "yet we must look on the bright side, trusting that a 
kind Providence will continue to give its protection to this fair 
portion of our Valley." 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 695 

From Charlestown, Banks moved to Martinsburg, from which 
place he advanced upon Winchester, reaching a point within 
six miles of the town on the i ith of March. Jackson prepared 
to give him battle, but late in the day received an order from 
Richmond to evacuate Winchester and retire up the Valley. 
He withdrew leisurely, carrying off all the public property, and 
retreated as far as Mount Jackson. Here his force was still 
further reduced to barely 3,000 men. 

On the 2 1st of March he learned that the main body of the 
Federal forces, which had followed him up the Valley, were 
retiring towards Winchester, while a small force under General 
Shields was advancing leisurely up the Valley. He at once 
moved forward, and on the 23d of March attacked Shields at 
Kernstown, near Winchester, inflicting upon him a severe loss, 
and checking his advance. He then retreated rapidly to Mount 
Jackson, and General Shields fell back to Winchester. The 
effect of Jackson's movement was to retain in the Valley the 
entire command of Banks, the greater part of which had been 
destined to reinforce McClellan east of the Blue Ridge. It was 
now deemed necessary to retain this force in the Valley, in or- 
der to cover Washington from that direction. It was also de- 
cided to order Fremont to move from West Virginia into the 
Valley to reinforce Banks. Their united commands were 
then to crush Jackson, and drive him out of the Valley. In 
the meantime, McClellan, who had moved his army to the 
peninsula below Richmond, was ordered to advance upon Rich- 
mond from that direction, and McDowell was to march towards 
Richmond from Fredericksburg, and extend his left wing until 
he formed a junction with McClellan in the neighborhood of 
Hanover Court House, on the north of Richmond. It was be- 
lieved that these movements would result in the destruction of 
Jackson's army and the capture of Richmond. 

The danger which threatened the Confederate armies in Vir- 
ginia was very great. A simple but hazardous plan of defense 
was adopted by the southern leaders. General Johnston's 
army, properly reinforced, was deemed sufficient for the pro- 
tection of Richmond, but not a man could be spared from it to 
dispute the advance of Fremont, Banks and McDowell. This 
task was assigned to General Jackson, whose army was rein- 
forced. 



696 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

The situation of Jackson was now both difficult and danger- 
ous. In his front lay the army of General Banks, who had ad- 
vanced up the Valley for the purpose of uniting his forces with 
those of General Fremont, who was moving from West Vir- 
ginia towards Staunton, and whose advanced guard, under 
General Milroy, had already driven the small Confederate 
force under General Edward Johnson back to a point near 
Staunton. Bank"^ and Fremont might effect a junction at any 
moment, move upon Staunton, and not only capture that im- 
portant place, but throw themselves between the column of 
General Jackson and that of General Edward Johnson, who was 
near Buffalo Gap, and defeat them in detail. Jackson appreciated 
the full danger of his position, and met it with a bold and bril- 
liant plan of operations. He resolved to leave General Ewell, 
with his division, to watch Banks and hold him in check, and 
to march with the rest of his forces to Edward Johnson's posi 
tion, unite his troops with that command, attack Milroy and 
drive him back into West Virginia. Then, having checked 
Fremont's advance, he would return to the Valley, rejoin 
General Ewell, and drive Banks out of it. He at once put his 
plan in operation, and, having crossed the mountains, united 
his column with Edward Johnson's forces on the 7th of May. 
The next day he attacked Milroy near the village of McDowell, 
in Highland county, inflicted a disastrous defeat upon him, and 
pursued him beyond Franklin, in Pendleton county. Then, re- 
tracing his steps to McDowell, he re-crossed the mountains, 
and returning to the Valley rejoined General Ewell near New 
Market. He now moved rapidly down the Valley, and on the 
22d of May, attacked a portion of Banks' command at Port 
Royal and defeated it. Banks now retreated rapidly down the 
Valley, and Jackson followed in hot pursuit. On the 25th of 
May he came up with Banks at Winchester and inflicted a 
stinging defeat upon him, which completed the demoralization 
of the Federal forces. Banks resumed his flight, and did not 
pause until he had put the Potomac between his pursuers and 
himself The Confederates captured a vast amount of stores 
and arms in this expedition, and forced General Banks to de- 
stroy a still larger quantity. 

The presence of Jackson upon the Potomac alarmed the Fed- 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 697 

eral Government for the safety of Washington City. Fremont 
was ordered to hasten his march into the Valley, and the col- 
umn of General McDowell was diverted from its advance upon 
Richmond, and was directed to move into the Valley and gain 
Jackson's rear. This change in McDowell movement was a 
principal part of the Confederate plan, and was a crushing blow 
to McClellan's operations against Richmond. Still it was 
hoped that McDowell and Fremont would be able to crush 
Jackson between them. 

News of these movements reached General Jackson on the 
Potomac. He at once wheeled about, and retreating, with mar- 
velous rapidity, up the Valley, placed his army between Mc- 
Dowell and Fremont, and by the 6th of June had reached the 
vicinity of Port Republic. His situation was even more dan- 
gerous than ever. Fremont was pressing him closely, and for 
several days skirmishing had been going on between his rear 
guard and Fremont's advance, and Shields, with McDowell's 
advanced division, was approaching rapidly in his rear. Jack- 
son now divided his forces, and stationing General Ewell's divi- 
vision at Cross Keys, about five miles from Port Republic, to 
check Fremont, moved with the rest of his army to Port Re- 
public, to meet Shields. On the 8th of June Fremont attacked 
General Ewell at Cross Keys, but was repulsed with small loss. 
Ewell held his position during the day, and at night withdrew 
and rejoined Jackson. On the morning of the 9th of June, 
Jackson crossed the Shenandoah, destroyed the bridges behind 
him, and in the bloody battle of Port Republic inflicted a severe 
defeat upon Shields, and forced him to retreat. As the battle 
closed, Fremont appeared upon the opposite side of the river, 
but finding the bridges destroyed and Shields in full retreat, 
made no effort to cross. Jackson then withdrew leisurely with 
his whole command up the south fork of the Shenandoah, 
without being further pursued, while Shields retreated to 
Luray, and P'remont withdrew down the Valley to Mount 
Jackson, where he fortified his position. 

The battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic closed Jack- 
son's brilliant campaign on the Potomac and Shenandoah, In 
thirty-two days, with a force never exceeding 15,000 men, 
he had marched nearly four hundred miles, skirmishing 



698 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

almost daily; had fought five battles, defeated three armies, 
numbering in the aggregate nearly 70,000 men, captured about 
twenty pieces of artillery, some four thousand prisoners, and 
immense quantities of all kinds of stores, and had suffered a 
loss of less than one thousand men killed, v/ounded, and miss- 
ing. It is not surprising, then, that this brilliant campaign 
ranked General Jackson among the most distinguished and 
popular leaders of the South. 

An important result of Jackson's success was the utter de- 
struction of McClellan's plans for the reduction of Richmond. 
General Lee, who had succeeded to the command of the Army 
of Northern Virginia, resolved to attack McClellan and drive 
him from before Richmond. Jackson was ordered to move 
from the Chickahominy and join Lee. He accomplished 
this movement rapidly and skillfully, and before his absence 
from the Valley was suspected by his antagonist, had joined 
General Lee. He took part in the fierce battle of Cold Har- 
bor, on the 26th of June, deciding the day by his timely arrival, 
and in the battles of White Oak Swamp on the 29th, and 
Malvern Hill on the ist of July. 

Soon after this a large army was collected in Northern Vir- 
ginia by the Federal Government, and placed under the com- 
mand of General Pope. General Jackson was despatched by 
General Lee to watch this force, and check its advance. On 
the 9th of August Jackson attacked the advanced corps of 
Pope's army, at Cedar Run, and defeated it. This defeat 
checked General Pope's forward movement, and he fell back 
behind the Rappahannock. Soon after, it being evident that 
McClellan's forces were being withdrawn from the James 
River to reinforce Pope, General Lee hastened to Northern 
Virginia with the remainder of his army, and joined Jackson 
on the Rapidan, about the middle of August. Lee now re- 
solved to attack Pope before he could be joined by McClellan's 
troops, v^ho were on their way to unite with him. He divided 
his army into two columns, and sent Jackson's corps by a cir- 
cuituous route, by way of Thoroughfare Gap, to gain the rear 
of the Federal army. Jackson executed his daring flank march 
with success, and on the 26th of August captured Manassas 
Junction, Pope's main depot of supplies, with an enormous 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 699 

quantity of stores. Pope at once fell back, intending to crush 
the audacious flanker, and General Lee set off with the rest of 
his army, by way of Thoroughfare Gap, to join Jackson. 
Pope's army had been reinforced by the corps of Porter and 
Heintzelman, and Reynolds's division, of McClellan's army, 
and was at least 120,000 strong. Pope encountered Ewell's 
division near Manassas Junction on the 27th. Ewell held his 
ground, and at night rejoined Jackson, who moved from Man- 
assas and took position on the old battle-field of Bull Run. 
This brought Jackson nearer to Lee, and secured his retreat in 
case of defeat. Ewell's resistance deceived General Pope, who 
had posted McDowell's and Porter's corps to hold the road 
from Thoroughfare Gap, by which Lee must advance to Jack- 
son's assistance. Supposing, (^^Dm Ewell's resistance, that Jack- 
son meant to make a stand at Manassas Junction, Pope ordered 
these troops to move from the positions they had occupied, 
and march upon Manassas. That place was reached at noon, 
and was found empty. Pope now saw for the first time how 
he had been deceived by Jackson, and how he had blundered 
in leaving the road from Thoroughfare Gap open to Lee. 
He endeavored to repair his error by attacking Jackson at 
once. He did so on the afternoon of the 28th, but was re- 
pulsed with severe loss. On the same afternoon General Lee, 
with the rest of his army, forced the passage of Thoroughfare 
Gap, and bivouacked in the open country beyond the pass. 
On the morning of the 29th Lee resumed his march, and by 
noon his advanced division reached Jackson's position. By 
four o'clock in the afternoon the entire Confederate army was 
reunited under command of General Lee. About three o'clock 
Pope made a heavy attack upon Lee's position, being in igno- 
rance of the junction, and was repulsed. On the 30th, having 
united all the corps of his army. Pope staked the fate of the 
campaign upon a decisive effort. On this day was fought the 
second battle of Bull Run, in which the Federal army sus- 
tained a terrible defeat. The next diy Jackson attacked and 
drove back the Federal rear guard at Chantilly. Pope now re- 
treated within the defences of Washington, having lost over 
30,000 men and 30 pieces of artillery since the opening of the 
campaign. 



/OO AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Lee now resolved to attempt the invasion of Maryland 
Jackson's corps led the advance in this movement, crossed the 
Potomac at White's Ford, on the 5th of September, and the 
next day reached the vicinity of Frederick City. It was now 
necessary for Lee to pause. Harper's Ferry was held by a 
force of 11,000 Federal troops, and it v/as necessary to reduce 
this post in order to preserv^e the communications of the 
Confederate army with its own country. General Jackson 
was therefore ordered to recross the Potomac with his corps, 
and capture Harper's Ferry. He set off from Frederick on 
the lOth of September, and on the 13th carried the heights 
around Harper's Ferry, and invested the town. He pressed 
his attack with vigor, and on the 15th the Federal forces 
surrendered. Jackson at once se'ciired his prisoners, and set off 
by a forced march to join General Lee, who was seriously threat- 
ened by McClellan's army. Lee had halted at South Moun- 
tain, and had fought McClellan there on the 14th, to cover 
Jackson's operations at Harper's Ferry, and on the 15th, being 
sure of the surrender of that place, had fallen back behind the 
Antietam. Marching rapidly from Harper's Ferry, Jackson 
joined Lee on the Antietam on the i6th. He took part in the 
great battle of Antietam, on the 17th of September, his corps 
constituting the Confederate left wing. He held his ground 
stubbornly during the day, in the face of persistent attacks from 
vastly superior forces. 

When the army of General Lee occupied the heights around 
Fredericksburg, Jackson's corps constituted the right wing. 
He received the attack of Franklin's corps in the battle of the 
13th of December, 1862, and repulsed it with heavy loss. He 
was in favor of attacking the beaten Federal army in the town 
of Fredericksburg that night, and urged such a course upon 
General Lee. There can be little doubt that had his advice 
been adopted, Lee would have destroyed Burnside's army. 

During the battle General Jackson was conspicuous for his 
gallantry. Just before the action began he rode along his lines 
dressed in a handsome new uniform, the gift of a friend. It 
was his habit to dress very plainly, and his men had grown ac- 
customed to watch for their general just before a battle begun, 
never failing to recognize the old slouched hat and the faded 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. /OI 

gray uniform, when unable to distinguish his features. Never 
before had they failed to shout till the heavens rang when they 
saw him approach. Now they glanced carelessly at the officer 
in the handsome uniform, and gazed impatiently up and down 
the lines, wondering why "old Stonewall" did not appear. 
After he had passed them, it became known to them that the 
officer in the handsome uniform was their general, and they 
gave vent to many exclamations of regret at having suffered 
him to pass without a cheer. 

During this battle his men witnessed a scene, which, though 
familiar, never lost its touching interest to them. Riding for- 
ward a short distance in front of his line, and uncovering his 
head and raising his eyes and right hand to heaven, General 
Jackson prayed the God of battles to be with the army that 
day. The troops looked on with softened hearts, and it would 
have fared badly with any one who dared make light of such a 
scene m the presence of one of Jackson's men. 

When Hooker crossed the Rappahannock towards the last of 
April, 1863, General Lee ordered Jackson to march at once to- 
wards Chanccllorsville, and check the Federal advance. Jackson 
set off from Fredericksburg at midnight, on the 30th of April, 
and arrived in front of the Federal army on the morning of the 
1st of May. He resisted Hooker's advance so stubbornly that 
the latter decided to discontinue it, and entrenched himself aU 
Chancellorsville, where he awaited Lee's attack. Jackson 
spent the remainder of the day in developing the Federal posi- 
tion and strength. That night General Lee arrived. Jackson 
now proposed the following plan of operations for the next day, 
which was accepted: Lee, with the divisions of McLaws and 
Anderson, was to keep Hooker employed during the day, by 
threatening demonstrations against his front, while Jackson 
was to move with his corps around the Federal right wing, 
and by a sudden blow double it up upon Hooker's centre, take 
his line in reverse, and cut him off from United States Ford, 
his line of retreat. 

The night was quite cool. Seeing General Jackson without 
any covering or protection of any kind, one of his aides offered 
him his cape, and after much persuasion induced him to accept 
it. During the night he was fearful that the young man would 



702 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

take cold from being deprived of his cape, and rose softly and 
threw it over him as he lay asleep. Then lying down again, 
he passed the night without anything around him. This pro- 
duced a cold which afterwards resulted in a fatal attack of 
pneumonia. 

Early on the morning of the 2d of May, General Jackson 
began his movement around the Federal right. The march 
was completely successful, and late in the afternoon the corps 
reached a point in the rear of the Federal forces, who were 
utterly unsuspicious of their danger. Jackson now formed his 
line and at a little after five o'clock made a heavy attack upon 
the Federal right flank, which he swept before him, driving it 
rapidly upon its centre. By eight o'clock the Confederate ad- 
vance had been pressed to within half a mile of Hooker's 
headquarters. The line now become broken in the darkness 
and the undergrowth, and it was necessary to halt to reform it. 
But for this, Jackson would have slept that night at Chancel- 
lorsville. Hooker quickly took advantage of the pause, and 
bringing up his artillery, opened a heavy fire upon the woods 
held by Jackson's men. Jackson prepared to resume his ad- 
vance, and rode forward to reconnoitre. His troops had orders 
to fire upon any body of horse approaching from the Federal 
lines, and as he rode back, accompanied by his staff and es- 
cort, he neglected to warn his men of his approach. His 
party was mistaken for Federal cavalry and was greeted with a 
heavy fire, which struck down all but two and wounded Gen- 
eral Jackson severely in the left arm and right hand. He was 
carried to the rear as soon as possible under a fearful fire from 
the Federal batteries, which showered grape and canister upon 
the path. One of the litter-bearers was shot through both 
arms, and the litter fell to the ground, severely injuring the 
wounded General. With great difficulty he was gotten to the 
rear. 

General Jackson's wounds were severe and painful, and he 
was much exhausted by loss of blood. Upon examination the 
surgeons found it necessary to amputate his left arm. He sub- 
mitted cheerfully to the operation. On the next day he was 
carried to a house near Guinea's Station, and during the next 
two or three days he seemed to improve so much that it was 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 7O3 

decided to send him to Richmond, where he could be made 
more comfortable. On the night of the 5th, however, he was 
attacked with pneumonia, the result of his exposure on the 
night before the battle. His system was too much exhausted 
to cast the disease off, and it increased alarmingly. From 
this time he sank rapidly, and on Sunday, May loth, the 
surgeons informed his wife, who had joined him, that he could 
not live more than two hours. Mrs. Jackson communicated 
the intelligence to the General. He replied that he was will- 
ing to die, and added: "It will be infinite gain to be trans- 
lated to heaven, and be with Jesus." 

After parting with his wife and his friends, and sending mes- 
sages to the various generals with whom he had been associ- 
ated, and to his men, and expressing a wish he had frequently 
mentioned before, that General Ewell should succeed him in 
the command of his corps, and his desire to be buried at Lex- 
ington, Virginia, he became slightly delirious. Occasionally 
in his wanderings he would speak of some religious subject, 
and then give an order. Among his last words were the ex- 
clamations: "Order A. P. Hill to prepare for action." "Pass 
the infantry to the front." "Tell Major Hawks to send for- 
ward provrsions to the men." " Let us cross over the river, 
and rest under the shade of the trees." 

Then he sank gradually, and at fifteen minutes after tnree 
o'clock in the afternoon expired peacefully. 

When his death was' told to his command, the rugged vet- 
erans that had followed him without flinching in the face of the 
most appalling dangers, wept like children. 



T 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
^HE ancestor of Abraham Lincoln emigrated to this country 



from England at an early period, and settled in Berk3 
county, Pennsylvania. One of his descendants subsequently 
removed to the Valley of Virginia, and located himself in what 
is now Rockingham county, where Abraham Lincoln, the 
grandfather, and Thomas Lincoln, the father of the subject of 
this memoir, were born. In the year 1 780, Abraham Lincoln 
em.igrated with his family to Kentucky, then a wilderness in- 
habited by the Indians and a few hardy pioneers, and settled in 
that part of Hardin county, which has since been called Larue. 
He built his cabin on the extreme frontier, and in a region 
peculiarly exposed to the attacks of the Indians, who four years 
later surprised him at his plough, and killed and scalped him. 
His death was a severe blow to his family, which soon after 
separated, some of the members removing still farther west to 
Indiana, and others to distant parts of Kentucky. 

Thomas Lincoln remained in Hardin county, where he grew 
up to manhood. In the year 1806 he married Miss Nancy 
Hanks, a native of Virginia, and settled down as a farmer upon 
a small tract which he had won from the wilderness. Both he 
and his wife were members of the Baptist church, and were 
earnest, religious people. Both were uneducated; Mrs. Lincoln 
could read, but not write, while Thomas Lincoln could do 
neither. He was noted as a man of kind heart, and generous 
impulses, and his wife was a woman of excellent judgment, 
strong good sense, and amiable disposition. They had three 
children; a daughter who lived to womanhood, a son who died 
in infancy, and the subject of this memoir. 

Abraham Lincoln, their youngest child, was born in Hardin 
county, Kentucky, on the 12th of February, 1809. He grew 
up a stout, healthy boy, and as soon as he was old enough was 
put to work on the little farm. When he was seven years old, 
he was sent to an old field school, where he learned, to read. 

(704) 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 705 

He did not remain long at this school, however, for his father, 
towards the close of the year 18 16, determined to remove from 
Kentucky to Indiana, and " Abe," as the boy was called, was 
taken from school to help to prepare for the removal. Mr. 
Lincoln sold his farm for ten barrels of whisky, at that time 
the usual circulating medium of Kentucky, and twenty dollars 
in money, receiving in all the equivalent of about two hundred 
and eighty dollars. 

With Abe's assistance Mr. Lincoln constructed a flat boat, 
on which he embarked his whisky and household goods, and 
floated down Rolling Fork River into the Ohio, en route to 
Indiana, to buy a farm. Soon after entering the Ohio, his boat 
was capsized and its entire cargo lost, save three barrels of 
whisky and some other articles. Disposing of these he suc- 
ceeded in reaching Spencer county, Indiana, where he located 
a new farm, and then returned to Kentucky on foot to bring 
out his family. The preparations being completed, the little 
family set out on horseback for Indiana, and after seven days' 
journey through an uninhabited country reached their new 
home. 

All hands now went to work to build the house. Little Abe 
was given an axe, and did good service in preparing the logs 
for the cabin. A neighbor came over to assist the Lincolns, and 
in two or three days a comfortable log cabin was constructed. 
It had but a single room, but there was a rough loft overhead, 
reached by means of a ladder in one corner, and this consti- 
tuted little Abe's bed chamber. A blanket and a pile of straw 
supplied him with a couch, but he slept as soundly upon this 
rude resting place as he would have done upon a bed of down. 
He helped his father to make the tables, chairs, and bedsteads 
used in the cabin, and during the winter was kept busy with 
his axe, getting wood for burning and preparing rails for fencing. 
He also learned the use of the rifle, and distinguished himself 
by killing a wild turkey which had ventured too near the cabin. 
He found time to give to his reading and spelling, and went at 
them with a will. 

When he was a little more than eight years old, Abe lost his 
mother. He had been an affectionate son, and she a most devoted 
mother, and the blow was a sad one to the boy. He never 
45 



7o6 AMERICAN BIOCiRAPHY. 

lost the recollection of this bereavement, and in after years 
when crowned with the highest honors of his country, would 
speak of this good mother with tenderness and with moist- 
ened eyes. Shortly after her death, a neighbor taught Abe how 
to write, and after about a year's practice he was able, to write 
a letter. 

About two years after his wife's death, Mr. Lincoln married 
Mrs. Sally Johnston, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, a widow with 
three children. She was a most excellent woman and proved a 
second mother to her husband's children. Abe was much 
attached to her, and she to him. 

About this time a school was opened in the neighborhood 
by a young man named Crawford, and Abe was, to his great 
delight, enrolled among the pupils of the new " academy." 
He showed himself an apt scholar, and greatly improved in 
reading and writing. His memory was quick and retentive, 
and though the advantages offered him at the school did not 
extend beyond the two branches already named, he made the 
best use of them. His school dress was a suit of dressed buck- 
skin and a cap made of the skin of a raccoon. Six months 
were spent by him at the school, and then the future President 
went out into the world to earn his living. 

Abe was now about thirteen years of age, and for the next 
five years worked steadily in the woods, cutting down trees and 
splitting rails. His nights were given to the study of such 
books as he could borrow from his neighbors. He read them 
with avidity, and stored their contents up in his strong and 
retentive memory. When he was nineteen years old, he was 
hired for ten dollars a month by a man living near by, to assist 
in navigating a flat-boat loaded with stores to New Orleans. 
There was but one other man on the boat beside himself, and 
the two made the long and lonely voyage down the Mississippi, 
floating down the stream in the day, and tying the boat ujd to 
the bank at night. On the way the boat was attacked one 
night by a party of negroes, who were put to flight by Abe 
and his companion after a severe conflict. New Orleans was 
reached at length ; the goods were sold at a handsome profit, 
and the two flat-boatmen returned to Indiana. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. JOJ 

Indiana at length became too thickly settled to suit Thomas 
Lincoln, who was a true pioneer, and preferred frontier life to 
the existence of a more settled community. In March, 1830, 
the Lincoln family left Indiana, and removed to Illinois. The 
household goods and all the personal property of the family 
were transported in large wagons drawn by oxen, and it fell to 
the lot of Abe to drive one of the teams. The bottom lands 
of the Kaskaskia river were flooded, and in crossing them the 
male members of the family were obliged to wade up to their 
waists in water. Decatur, the principal town of Macon county, 
Illinois was reached in about two weeks, and pushing on, the 
family in another day arrived at the tract of land in Sangamon 
county, on the north side of the Sangamon river, about ten 
miles west of Decatur, on which they had determined to settle. 
It was but ten acres in extent, and was barely enough to afford 
the plainest support to the family. A cabin was at once erected 
and Abe set to work to split the rails for fencing the farm. He 
performed his task with the earnestness and thoroughness with 
which he did everything, and during the fall and winter his rifle 
furnished the principal supply of food for the family. ' 

Abe was now entering upon manhood, and was not satisfied 
with the narrow prospect before him at home. In the spring 
of 1830 he removed farther west to Menard county, and during 
the summer and winter of that year worked on a farm in the 
neighborhood of Petersburg. He devoted his nights to faithful 
study, endeavoring to perfect himself in reading, writing, gram- 
mar and arithmetic. 

Early in the next spring Abe was hired by a Mr. Offut, of 
New Salem, to assist in navigating a flat-boat to New Orleans. 
As no boat could be purchased on the Sangamon, Abe helped 
his employer to build one, and when it was finished aided in 
floating it into the Mississippi, and thence to New Orleans. 
The voyage was successful, and Mr. Offut was so much 
pleased with the industry and ability displayed by Abe Lin- 
coln that he engaged him to take charge of his mill and store 
in the village of New Salem. The industry and integrity with 
which he conducted his new business won for Lincoln the cor- 
dial esteem of the people of New Salem, who gave to him the 
title of" Honest Abe," which clung to him through life. 



708 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

In the early part of 1832 the Black Hawk War broke out, 
and the Governor of Illinois issued a call for volunteers. A 
recruiting office was opened at New Salem, and Honest Abe 
was the first man to volunteer. He then set to work to induce 
his friends and neighbors to follow his example, and with such 
success that a company was raised, of which he was unani- 
mously elected captain. The thirty days for which these men 
enlisted expired without their being called into active service, 
and they were discharged. Lincoln immediately re-enlisted as 
a private, and remained with his regiment until the close of 
hostilities. He " did not see any live fighting Indians," he 
afterwards humorously declared, " but had a good many bloody 
struggles with the mosquitoes." 

Lincoln's patriotic conduct in volunteering so promptly 
greatly increased his popularity in New Salem, and he was 
nominated by the people of that place to represent the county 
in the Legislature. He had been a resident of the county for 
only nine months, but he was an ardent " Henry Clay Whig," 
and was regarded by his fellow townsmen as the best man for 
the place. It was also believed that his personal popularity 
was sufficient to overcome the strong Democratic majority 
w^hich the county had given at the last Presidential election. 
There were eight candidates for the Legislature in this county, 
and Lincoln was defeated, the successful candidate receiving a 
few more votes than he. Of the two hundred and eighty-four 
votes cast in New Salem, Lincoln received two hundred and 
seventy-seven. 

After his defeat Mr. Lincoln opened a store at New Salem, 
but in the course of a few months sold out his business, and 
studied surveying. He pursued the calling of a surveyor for a 
little more than a year, and managed to support himself by it. 
During a part of this period he held the office of postmaster of 
New Salem. 

In August, 1834, Mr. Lincoln was again nominated for mem- 
ber of the Legislature, and this time was elected by a large 
majority. He was re-elected three times, in 1836, 1838, and 
1840. While attending the first session of the Legislature after 
his election, he determined to study law and rise above his 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN; 7O9 

humble position. He was too poor to purchase the necessary- 
books, but having won the friendship of the Hon. John T. 
Stuart, of Springfield, was able to borrow them from that 
gentleman. He studied with ardor, and made such progress 
that, in 1836, he was admitted to the bar. The next year 
he removed from New Salem to Springfield, and formed a 
partnership with Mr. Stuart. 

His success as a lawyer was marked and rapid. He was a 
very effective speaker before a jury, and there were few men in 
the State that knew better than he how to reach the hearts and 
move the feelings of " the Twelve Peers." Soon after he entered 
upon the practice of the law he was engaged in a criminal case, 
in which it was thought his defeat was certain. Putting forth 
all his ability, however, he won the case, and received for his 
services the handsome fee of five hundred dollars. The next 
morning a legal friend, chancing to call upon him, found him 
seated before a table with his money spread out upon it, count- 
ing it over. "Look here. Judge," said he, "see what a heap of 

money I've got from the case. Did you ever see anything 

like it? Why, I never had so much money in my life before, 
put it all together." Then he added in his peculiarly earnest 
manner, "I have got just five hundred dollars: if it was only 
seven hundred and fifty, I would go directly and purchase a 
quarter-section of land, and settle it upon my old step-mother." 
His friend at once offered to lend him two hundred and fifty 
dollars, upon his note for that amount, and the offer was 
promptly accepted. "But, Lincoln," he added, "I would not 
do what you have just indicated. Your step-mother is getting 
old, and will not probably live many years. I would settle the 
property upon her for her use during her life time, to revert to 
you upon her death." " I shall do no such thing," replied Mr. 
Lincoln, warmly. " It is a poor return at the best for all the 
good woman's devotion and fidelity to me, and there is not 
going to be any half-way business about it." He was as good 
as his word; the land was bought and settled without reserve 
upon his step-mother. 

Mr. Lincoln was one of the leading members of the Whig 
party in Illinois, and in every Presidential campaign from 1836 
to 1852 was a Presidential Elector on the Whig ticket. In 



7IO AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

this capacity he traversed the State repeatedly, and in 1 844, put 
forth all his powers in behalf of Henry Clay, but without win- 
ning the vote of the State for him. He spoke to immense 
throngs, and as he had risen from the same class that consti- 
tuted the bulk of his audiences, knew how to talk to them in 
words that would reach their hearts. He was therefore one of 
the most popular speakers in Illinois. 

In 1846 Mr. Lincoln was elected to Congress from the Central 
District of Illinois, by a majority of 1500, the largest vote ever 
polled by a Whig candidate in that district, which was strongly 
Democratic. He took his seat in the House of Representatives 
at the opening of the session, on the first Monday in December, 
1847, and was placed by the Speaker on the Committee on 
Post-Offices and Post-Roads. He maintained a steadfast oppo- 
sition to the policy of President Polk, and like the majority of 
the Whig members, was strongly opposed to the war with 
Mexico. Nevertheless, when the war was begun he was in 
favor of carrying it out with vigor and with credit to the country. 
President Polk, having, in his annual message in December, 
1846, declared that "Mexico herself became the aggressor by 
invading our soil in hostile array, and shedding the blood of 
our citizens," Mr. Lincoln, on the 22d of December, 1847, 
introduced into the House a series of resolutions which became 
famous as the "Spot Resolutions," calling on the President to 
designate the exact spot on which the acts complained of oc- 
curred. 

During his term in Congress he voted for the reception of 
petitions and memorials praying the abolition of slavery in the 
District of Columbia, and gave his support to the Wilmot Pro- 
viso, voting for it upwards of forty times. At the close of his 
term he declined a re-election to Congress, as he found that his 
service in that body interfered with his law practice, upon which 
he was dependent for support. 

Mr. Lincoln was a member of the National Whig Conven- 
vention of 1848, which nominated General Taylor for the Presi- 
dency, and in the canvass which followed stumped the States of 
Illinois and Indiana in behalf of his party. In 1849 he was a 
candidate for United States Senator, but was defeated by Gen- 
eral Shields. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 7^ 

For the next five years Mr. Lincoln devoted himself almost 
exclusively to his profession, acquiring;^ a moderate competency 
by his industry. In 1842 he had married Mary, the daughter 
of the Hon. Robert S. Todd, of Lexington, Kentucky, and a 
little family was now beginning to gather around him and to 
draw out those exquisite traits of domestic and parental affec- 
tion in which he was so rich. His devotion to his family was 
one of the strongest feelings of his deep and tender nature. 
" His intercourse with his family," said one of his friends after 
his death, " was as beautiful as that with his friends. I think 
that never father loved his children more fondly than he. The 
President never seemed grander in my sight than when, steal- 
ing upon him in the evening, I would find him with a book 
open before him, as he is represented in the popular photo- 
graph, with little Tad beside him. There were a great many 
curious books sent to him, and it seemed to be one of the 
special delights of his life to open those books at such an hour 
that his boy could stand beside him, and they could talk as he 
turned over the pages ; the father thus giving to the son a por- 
tion of that care and attention of which he was ordinarily 
deprived by the duties of office pressing upon him." 

In 1854 Mr. Lincoln returned to the stump, and took part in 
the famous campaign of that year which resulted in the destruc- 
tion of the Democratic supremacy in Illinois, and the election 
of a Republican Legislature, which sent Judge Trumbull to 
the United States Senate in the place of General Shields. Mr. 
Lincoln was the choice of a large part of the Legislature, which 
wished him to be a candidate for the United States Senate, but 
he declined the honor, and urged his friends to give thtir votes 
to Judge Trumbull. Somewhat later he was urged to become 
the Republican candidate for Governor of Illinois, but declined 
in favor of Mr. Bissell. At the National Republican Conven- 
tion of 1856 his name was presented as a candidate for the 
Vice-Presidency, but he failed to receive the nomination. He 
was placed at the head of the Electoral ticket in Illinois, and 
labored diligently in support of Fremont and Dayton. 

In June, 1858, the Republican State Convention nominated 
Mr. Lincoln as the candidate of that party for United States 



712 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Senator. His opponent was Stephen A. Douglas, who had 
been for some years in the Senate, and was one of the most 
popular public men in Illinois, and the ablest political debater 
in the West. Mr. Lincoln was chosen by the Republican party 
as its nominee for the avowed reason that he was the only man 
in the State who had the slightest chance of defeating Judge 
Douglas. The two candidates traversed the State of Illinois, 
speaking in every town of importance, and often traveling in 
the same carriage or railway car. The debate between them 
is noted as one of the most important and powerful known to 
our history. It embraced all the topics of the day, but turned 
principally upon the question of Slavery. It attracted the 
attention of the whole country, and gave to Mr. Lincoln a na- 
tional reputation. It was universally conceded that Judge Doug- 
las had found a formidable opponent in " Honest Abe," and the 
deepest interest was manifested by the whole country in the 
struggle. Copious extracts from the speeches of the opposing 
candidates were published in the leading newspapers of the 
Union, and personal descriptions of the speakers formed a 
prominent feature in the newspapers of the day. In this way 
Mr. Lincoln became known to the people of the whole Union. 
The contest resulted in the election of a Legislature pledged to 
vote for Judge Douglas, and he was chosen by a majority of 
eight votes over Mr. Lincoln, on joint ballot. 

The Illinois Republicans were not disheartened by the defeat 
of their favorite, and presented his name as their candidate for 
the Presidency of the United States. At the next meeting of 
the State Convention, Mr. Oglesby, afterwards Governor of 
Illinois, brought into the hall, and presented to the Cqpvention 
two old fence rails decorated with ribbons and tiags, and bearing 
a card with the following inscription: "Abraham Linxoln, the 
Rail Candidate for President in i860. Two rails from a lot of 
3000 made in 1830 by Thos. Hanks and Abe Lincoln, zvJiose father 
was tlie first pioneer of Macon county!' The rails were greeted 
with deafening applause by the Convention, and a call was 
made for Mr. Lincoln, who was sitting in the gallery as a spec- 
tator. He rose after some hesitation, and modestly acknowl- 
edged that he had split rails some thirty years before in Ma- 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 7^3 

con county, and added that he was informed that those which 
had just been presented to the Convention were a part of his 
handiwork. 

During the year 1859 Mr. Lincohi dehvered a number of 
speeches in other States in behalf of the Repubhcan cause, and 
on the 27th of February, i860, delivered a powerful address 
before an immense audience at Cooper Institute-, New York, 
upon the powers of the general government over slavery. 

The National Convention of the Republican party assembled 
in Chicago on the i6th of May, i860, for the purpose of nomi- 
nating a candidate for the Presidency. The first two days were 
spent in the work of organization, and on the i8th the bal- 
loting for a candidate began. Mr. Lincoln was nominated by 
the Illinois delegation, but it was generally believed that the 
choice of the Convention would fall upon Mr. Seward. Lincoln, 
however, had absolutely no personal enemies, while Seward was 
opposed by a powerful section of the party headed by Horace 
Greeley. Mr. Lincoln's friends, in the hope of securing the 
Greeley party to his side, telegraphed him at Springfield that 
he could receive its support if he would pledge himself, if elected, 
to give seats in his Cabinet to certain parties named. An im- 
mediate reply was requested. It was sent promptly, and was 
to this effect: " I azithonse no bargains, and will be bound by none. 
A. Lincoln." 

On the first ballot the vote stood: Seward, 173^; LincoLi, 
102: on the second, Seward, 184^^; Lincoln, 181. Greeley 
and his followers now came over to the support of Lincoln, and 
on the third ballot Lincoln received 230^ votes, or within one 
and a half of a nomination. One of the State delegations at 
once changed its vote, and cast it for him, thus giving him the 
nomination, which amid a storm of enthusiasm was declared 
unanimous. The nomination took the Eastern States by sur- 
prise, but in the West it was hailed with delight. 

The committee appointed by the Convention to inform Mr. 
Lincoln of his nomination at once set out for Springfield, and 
arrived a few hours after he had recieved the news by tele- 
graph. " He received them at the door," says an eye-witness- 
of the scene, "and conducted them to seats in his parlor. On 



714 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

the reception of this committee, Mr. Lincohi appeared some- 
what embarrassed, but soon resumed his wonted tranquihty 
and cheerfuhiess. At the proper time Governor Morgan, of 
New York, the chairman of the committee, arose, and, with 
becoming dignity, informed Mr. Lincoln that he and his fellows 
appeared in behalf of the Convention in session at Chicago, to 
inform him that he had that day been unanimously nominated 
to the office of President of the United States, and asked his 
permission to report to that body his acceptance of the nomi- 
nation. Mr. Lincoln, with becoming modesty, but very hand- 
somely, replied that he felt his insufficiency for the vast 
responsibilities which must devolve upon that office under the 
impending circumstances of the times ; but if God and his 
country called for his services in that direction, he should 
shrink from no duty that might be imposed upon him, and 
therefore he should not decline the nomination. 

" After this ceremony had passed, Mr. Lincoln remarked to 
the company, that as an appropriate conclusion to an interview 
so important and interesting as that which had just transpired, 
he supposed good manners would require that he should treat 
the committee with something to drink ; and opening a door 
that led into a room in the rear, he called out, 'Mary! Maiy!' 
A girl responded to the call, to whom Mr. Lincoln spoke a 
few words in an undertone, and, closing the door, returned 
again to converse with his guests. In a few minutes the maiden 
entered, bearing a large waiter, containing several glass tumb- 
lers, and a large pitcher in the midst, and placed it upon the 
centre-table. Mr. Lincoln arose, and gravely addressing the 
company, said: 'Gentlemen, we must pledge our mutual 
healths in the most healthy beverage which God has given to 
man — it is the only beverage I have ever used or allowed in 
my family, and I cannot conscientiously depart from it on the 
present occasion — it is pure Adam's ale from the spring;' 
and, taking a tumbler, he touched it to his lips, and pledged 
them his highest respects in a cup of cold water. Of course, 
all his guests were constrained to admire his consistency, and 
to join in his example." 

The campaign which followed was intensely exciting. The 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. /I 5 

election took place on the 6th of November, i860, with the 
following result : Mr. Lincoln received 1,866,452 votes ; Doug- 
las, 1,375,157; Breckenridge, 847,953; and Bell 500,631. In 
the Electoral College the vote stood as follows : For Lincoln, 
180; for Breckenridge, 72 ; for Douglas, 39; for Bell, 12. 

The election of Mr. Lincoln was made by the Southern 
States the pretext fer the dissolution- of the Union. One by 
one the Gulf States withdrew from the Union, and in February, 
1861, organized themselves into a new Confederacy. Mr. Lin- 
coln was^'sincerely grieved by this action, as he was conscious 
of the error of the South in supposing that he had any inten- 
tion of interfering with the institution of slavery in the States 
where it existed. He earnestly desired to do his duty to the 
whole country, and had not the slightest wish to conduct his 
administration upon a sectional basis. Two days after the 
secession of South Carolina, he wrote to the Hon. Alexander 
H Stephens, of Georgia : " I fully appreciate the present peril 
the country is in, and the weight of. responsibility on me. Do 
the people of the South really entertain fears that a Republican 
administration would, directly, or indirectly, interfere with the 
slaves or with them, about the slaves ? If they do, I wish to 
assure you, as once a friend, and still, I hope, not my enemy, 
that there is no cause for such fear. The South would be in 
no more danger in this respect than it was in the days of 
Washington. I suppose, however, this does not meet the case. 
You think slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while we 
think it is wrong, and ought to be restricted. That, I suppose, 
is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial difference be- 
tween us." ^.,1,14. 

Threats were freely indulged in that Mr. Lincoln should not 
be inaugurated. " Soon after I was nominated at Chicago, he 
once said, " I began to receive letters threatening my life. Ihe 
first one or two made me a little uncomfortable, but I came at 
length to look for a regular installment of this kind of corre- 
spondence, and up to inauguration day I was in constant receipt 
of such letters." On the i ith of February, 1861, he left Spring- 
field, on his way to Washington to enter upon the duties ot 
the Presidency. He proceeded by a circuitous route through 



7l6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and 
Buffalo, to New York and Philadelphia. From the latter city 
he went to Harrisburg, the capital of the State of Pennsylvania. 
He was everywhere received with enthusiasm by the people. 
It was his intention to proceed direct from Harrisburg to 
Baltimore, but rumors of a plot to assassinate him as he passed 
through the latter city, caused him to return to Philadelphia. 
He left that city on the midnight train on the 22d of February, 
and arrived in Washington early on the morning of the 23d, 
before his departure from Harrisburg was known. 

General Scott, the veteran commander of the United States 
Army, having cause to fear that an effort would be made to 
prevent the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, collected a force of 
regulars in Washington city, and under their protection the 
inauguration passed off quietly on the 4th of March, 1861. 

Mr. Lincoln selected his Cabinet from the leading men of the 
Republican party, and after the retirement of Mr. Cameron and 
the appointment of Mr. Stanton to the War Department,' had 
unquestionably the ablest Cabinet that had been in office for 
several generations. 

It does not form a part of our purpose to present here a full 
history of the events of Mr. Lincoln's administration. To do 
that would be to write the history of the Civil War. We shall 
speak only of a few of the leading incidents of his Presidency. 
In his inaugural address he announced his intention to hold and 
occupy the public property in all parts of the Union, and to 
enforce the laws. He declared that the Government would not 
attack the Southern States, but would use force if necessary to 
maintain its authority. 

The attack upon Fort Sumter, and the commencment of the 
Civil War, soon followed. President Lincoln at once summoned 
Congress to convene in extra session, and issued a proclamation 
calling upon the various States of the Union to furnish a force 
of 75,000 men to assist in restoring the supremacy of the Con- 
stitution and laws in the South. The war was soon fairly 
begun. Its events are well known to the reader, and need not 
be repeated here. 

From the first Mr. Lincoln was the leading spirit of his 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 717 

Administration. He relied much upon the wisdom and expe- 
rience of his Cabinet Ministers; but he was in all things the 
Chief Magistrate of the nation from the moment of his inaugu- 
ration. He was anxious to conciliate the South as far as possi- 
ble, and while he was ready to extend kindness and protection 
to that section as soon as he could do so consistently with his 
sense of duty, he was, at the same time, determined to exert 
every power of the Government to put down the resistance of 
the South. His views upon the questions at issue were frank 
and outspoken, and no one who reads his messages and letters 
can be in doubt as to them. In his second message to Congress, 
on the 3d of December, 1861, he stated that while he had used 
every means in his power to conduct the war with vigor, he 
was anxious that the conflict should not degenerate into a vio- 
lent and remorseless revolutionary struggle. " I have, there- 
fore," he added, "in every case, thought it proper to keep the 
integrity of the Union prominent as the primary object of the 
contest on our part, leaving all questions which are not of vital 
military importance to the more deliberate action of the Legis- 
lature." And yet in his own acts he was never precipitate. 
He weighed each deliberately, and never acted until he was satis- 
fied that he was right, but when he had fully resolved upon his 
programme he carried it out with a decision and rapidity which 
astounded the whole country. He had the happy faculty — 
the rarest gift of the statesman — of being able to choose with 
unerring certainty the right moment at which to strike his 
most decisive blows. He held the military conduct of the war 
in his own hands, and while he left his generals in the field all' 
the liberty they could desire, never lost sight of the fact that he 
was the Constitutional Commander-in-chief of the Army and 
Navy, and exercised over all the operations of the war the con- 
trol that rightfully belonged to him. He did not interfere with 
the commanders unless he thought it necessary to do so; but 
then his interference was prompt and effective. 

Mr. Lincoln began the war by hoping much from the Union 
men of the South, but it was not long before he saw that they 
were a helpless minority of the people of that section. He 
began also by faithfully executing the Fugitive Slave Law. 



7l8 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, 

He was soon convinced, however, that such a course could 
not be continued. Slavery, which had been the cause of the 
war, must perish in the triumph of the Union. He therefore 
submitted a message to Congress, in March, 1862, recommend- 
ing to the States the gradual abolition of slavery, and proposing 
that the General Government should extend pecuniary aid to 
the various States to enable them to accomplish this object. 
The message was received with unbounded satisfaction by the 
people of the North and West. On the i6th of April, 1862, 
Mr. Lincoln approved the bill for the abolition of slavery in the 
District of Columbia. 

Mr. Lincoln had been a life-long advocate of the abolition 
of slavery, and its extinction by constitutional means was an 
object very near to his heart; but it was, in the great struggle 
in which he was engaged, a secondary consideration. "My 
paramount object," he wrote to Horace Greeley, "is to save 
the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery. If I 
could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do 
it; if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; 
and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, 
I would do that. * * j shall try to correct errors when 
shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they 
appear to be true views. I have here stated my purpose ac- 
cording to my view of official duty, and I intend no modifica- 
tion of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere 
could be free." 

Mr. Lincoln was strongly urged by the anti-slavery men of 
the North to use the war power lodged in his hands, and offer 
freedom to the slaves. " They seemed to think," he said, 
"that; the moment I was President, I had the power to abolish 
slavery ; forgetting that, before I could have any power what- 
ever, I had to take the oath to support the Constitution of the 
United States, and execute the laws as I found them. When 
the Rebellion broke out, my duty did not admit of a question. 
That was, first, by all strictly lawful means to endeavor to 
maintain the integrity of the Government. I did not consider 
that I had the right to touch the 'State' institution of slavery 
until all other measures for restoring the Union had failed. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 719 

The paramount idea of the Constitution is the preservation of 
the Union. It may not be specified in so many words, but 
that this v/as the idea of its founders is evident ; for, without 
the Union, the Constitution would be worthless." 

At length the time arrived when both his duty and his incli- 
nation lay in the same direction. It was necessary to destroy 
slavery in order to preserve the Union. " It seems clear," he 
afterwards said, "that in the last extremity, if any local insti- 
tution threatened the existence of the Union, the Executive 
could not hesitate as to his duty. In our case, the moment 
came when I felt that slavery must die that the nation might 
live." 

Mr. Lincoln came to this conclusion in the midst of one of 
the severest trials of the war. The army of General Pope had 
been defeated and driven out of Virginia, and the victorious 
legions of General Lee had invaded Maryland, and were threat- 
ening Pennsylvania. The moment for striking a decisive blow 
at the South had now arrived, and the President did not hesi- 
tate. " I made a solemn vow before God," he afterwards said 
to Secretary Chase, " that if General Lee was driven back from 
Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration of 
freedom to the slaves." In accordance with this resolution, 
Mr. Lincoln, immediately after Lee's retreat from Maryland, 
issued, on the 22d of September, 1862, his proclamation an- 
nouncing that on and after the first day of January, 1863, the 
negroes held as slaves in all the States of the South, in resist- 
ance to the authority of the General Government, would be 
unconditionally and forever released from bondage. 

On the 1st of January, 1863, the final Emancipation Procla- 
mation, giving freedom to all the negro slaves of the South, 
was issued, and the work was complete. 

The final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation was pre- 
sented to Mr. Lincoln for his signature at noon on New Year's 
day, by Secretary Seward. Mr. Lincoln placed it upon his 
desk, and taking up his pen, dipped it in ink, and was about to 
affix his signature, when he suddenly paused and laid down 
the pen. He repeated this performance, and then turning to 
Secretary Seward, who was looking on in surprise, he said : 



-20 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

"I have been shaking hands since nine o'clock this morning, 
and my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes 
into histor>' it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. 
If my hand trembles when I sign the Proclamation, all who 
examine the document hereafter will say, 'He hesitated!'" 
Pausing for a moment longer, he took up the pen and slowly 
and firmly wrote at the bottom of the paper, "Abraham Lin- 
coln." " That will do," he said with a smile, and handed the 
paper to ]\Ir. Seward. 

He had no hestation in performing this act, and he meant to 
enforce it with all the power of the Government. " There have 
been men," he once said, "base enough to propose to me tore- 
turn to slaverj'^the black warriors of Port Hudson and Olustee, 
and thus win the respect of the masters they fought. Should 
I do so, I should deserve to be damned in time and eternity. 
Come what will, I will keep my faith with friend and foe. My 
enemies pretend I am now carrj^ing on this war for the sole 
purpose of Abolition. So long as I am President, it shall be 
carried on for the sole purpose of restoring the Union. But no 
human power can subdue this rebellion without the use of the 
emancipation policy, and even.- other policy calculated to weaken 
the moral and physical forces of the rebellion." 

Mr. Lincoln followed up his emancipation policy by recom- 
mending, and securing the passage of acts of Congress autlior- 
izing the enlistment of negro troops in the Federal army. 

The year 1S63 witnessed the defeat of Hooker's splendid army 
at Chancellorsville, the invasion of Pennsylvania by General 
Lee, the battle of Gett}-sburg. the defeat of Lee and the failure 
of the invasion, and the capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson. 
After the retreat of the Confederates into Virginia, a portion of 
the battle ground at Gettj-sburg was set apart as a national 
cemeter}', and was dedicated by the President with appropriate 
ceremonies on the 19th of November, 1863. Mr. Lincoln's 
brief address on this occasion is a model of beauty. He said: 

" Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth 
upon this Continent a new nation, conceived in libert}', and 
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that 



ABRAHAM LIN'COLN. 72 1 

nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long 
endure. We arc met on a great battle-field of that war. We 
are met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of 
those who here gave their lives that the nation might live. It 
is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

" But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot conse- 
crate-, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living 
and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above 
our power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor 
long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what 
they did here. It is for us, the living, r:ithcr to be dedicated 
here to the unfinished work that they have thus so far nobly 
carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the 
great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead 
we take increased devotion to the cause for which they here 
gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly 
resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain, that the na- 
tion shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and that 
the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, 
shall not perish from the earth." 

On the 26th of March, 1 864, the President issued his Procla- 
mation, offering to all persons engaged in armed resistance to 
the authority of the United States a full pardon and a restor- 
ation to all their rights and property, except as to slaves, upon 
submitting to the authority of the Union, and taking an oath to 
support the Constitution and laws thereof It was a great 
gratification to him to issue this proclamation, and he ever 
afterward made a liberal, though judicious, use of the pardon- 
ing power. 

In June, 1864, Mr. Lincoln was nominated by the Republi- 
can Convention for reelection to the Presidency, and was 
triumphantly elected over his Democratic opponent. General 
George B. McClellan, in the following November, receiving 
2,223,035 votes to McClellan's i, 8 1 1,754, or a popular majority 
of 411,281. The result was justly regarded as an emphatic 
endorsement of the President's course by the people. In a 
speech delivered in response to a serenade upon the night of 
the election, Mr. Lincoln said : " I am thankful to God for this 
46 



722 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

approval of the people ; but while deeply grateful for this mark 
of their confidence in me, if I know my heart, my gratitude is 
free from any taint of personal triumph. I do not impugn the 
motives of any one opposed to me. It is no pleasure to me to 
triumph over any one, but I give thanks to the Almighty for 
this evidence of the people's resolution to stand by free govern- 
ment and the rights of humanity." 

The inauguration took place on the 4th of March, 1865, and 
was conducted with the most imposing ceremonies ever wit- 
nessed in Washington. On the night of the 3d of March the 
President and several members of the Cabinet were at the 
Capitol awaiting the passage of the final bills of Congress, as 
is usual at the close of a session of Congress. A telegram was 
brought in from General Grant, stating that General Lee had 
asked an interview with reference to terms of peace. Mr. Lin- 
coln was delighted; he beheld the close of the war; and his 
natural kindness of heart began to show itself in his sugges- 
tions of favorable terms to be granted to the Confederates. 

" Stanton listened in silence," says a witness of the scene, 
"restraining his emotion; but at length the tide burst forth. 
' Mr. President,' said he, ' to-morrow is inauguration day. If 
you are not to be the President of an obedient and united peo- 
ple, you had better not be inaugurated. Your work is already 
done, if any other authority than yours is for one moment 
to be recognized, or any terms made that do not signify you 
are the supreme head of the nation. If generals in the field 
are to negotiate peace, or any other chief magistrate is to be 
acknowledged on this continent, then you are not needed, and 
you had better not take the oath of office.' 

Stanton, you are right !' said the President, his whole tone 
changing. ' Let me have a pen.' 

" Mr. Lincoln sat down at the table, and wrote as follows : 
The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you 
to have no conference with General Lee, unless it be for the 
capitulation of Lee's army, or on some minor or purely mili- 
tary matter. He instructs me to say that you are not to decide; 
discuss or confer upon any political question. Such ques- 
tions the President holds in his own hands, and will submit 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 723 

them to no military conferences or conventions. In the mean- 
time you are to press to the utmost your miHtary advantages.' 

" The President read over what he had written, and then 
said : ' Now, Stanton, date and sign this paper, and send it to 
Grant. We'll see about this peace business.'" 

On the 24th of March, 1865, Mr. Lincoln paid a visit to the 
army of General Grant. He witnessed the fruitless assault of 
Lee upon Fort Steadman, and a portion of the final attack 
which compelled the evacuation of the lines of Petersburg and 
Richmond by the Confederates. He paid a flying visit to 
Richmond, after its capture, and held a levee in the deserted 
mansion of the fallen President of the Southern Confederacy, 
and returned to Washington in time to receive the news of the 
surrender of Lee's army, which put an end to all hope of fur- 
ther resistance on the part of the South. 

Mr. Lincoln was satisfied that the war was over, and had 
determined upon a generous policy towards the South in the 
reconstruction of the Union. He was sincerely anxious to 
heal the wounds of the war as soon as possible, and to direct 
the energies of the Southern people to the task of repairing 
their shattered fortunes. He was strong enough in the loyal 
States to pursue such a course, and firm and judicious enough 
to do so without endangering the results of the war. The war 
had been a painful trial to him, and his rejoicings at the return 
of peace were deep and heartfelt. He had carried the country 
through its terrible struggle, and his first and greatest care had 
been for the preservation of the Union. Now that the Union 
was safe, and slavery dead, he felt himself called upon to watch 
with especial tenderness over the conquered people of the 
South, and to help them to recover the prosperity they had 
lost, and to resume their places in the reconstructed Union. 
The great heart of this simply great man was very pitiful, and 
he looked upon the gallant people who had withstood him for 
four years as his countrymen, misguided, but still children of 
the same mother. He had no harshness for them, and he 
meant to be their true and helpful friend. He had saved the 
Union; he now looked forward to the task of placing it on a 
more enduring basis than ever. 

The load that had lain so heavily upon the President's heart 



7^4 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

for four years, was now lifted from it, and he seemed to his 
friends more cheerful than he had been since his first inaucrura- 
tion. This was so marked that it was noticed and commented 
upon by the members of the Cabinet at the meeting on the 
14th of April. During the day Mr. Lincoln received and ac- 
cepted an invitation to visit Ford's Theatre in the evenino-. 

Shortly before nine o'clock, Mr. Lincoln, accompanied by 
Mrs. Lincob, Miss Harris, the daughter of Senator Harris, of 
New York, and Major Rathbone, of the army, entered the box 
that had been prepared for him by the management of the 
theatre. He was received by the audience with a storm of 
applause, and acknowledged the compliment by bowing repeat- 
edly from his box. 

About ten o'clock, while the play of the evening was in 
progress, John Wilkes Booth, an actor of considerable promi- 
nence, entered the proscenium box occupied by the President 
and, presenting a pistol close behind the head of Mr. Lincoln, 
fired. The ball cut its way through the skull, and imbedded 
itself deep in the brain of the President. Major Rathbone 
sprang towards the assassin, and grappled with him. Booth 
drew a large knife, wounded Rathbone, freed himself from him, 
and sprang upon the balustrade of the box. Waving the knife 
about his head, and shouimg '' Sic Semper Tyrannis'' ("Thus 
always with tyrants"), he sprang to the stage. His spur caught 
in the folds of the American flag, with which the box was 
draped, and he fell heavily to the stage, breaking one of his 
legs. By a powerful effort, however, he regained his feet, 
darted behind the scenes, and escaped to an alley in the rear of 
the theatre, where a fleet horse was in waiting for him. This 
he mounted, and fled across the back branch of the Potomac 
into Lower Maryland.^ 

1 Mr. Lincoln was often warned by his friends of the danger of assassination, and 
was urged to provide himself with an escort or guard when he appeared in pubHc, 
but invariably refused to do so. " The simple habits of Mr. Lincoln were so well 
known," says Mr. Brooks, " that it is a subject for surprise that watchful and 
malignant treason did not sooner take that precious life which he seemed to hold 
so lightly. He had an almost morbid dislike for an escort or guard, and daily 
exposed himself to the deadly aim of an assassin. * * In reply to the remon- 
strances of friends, who were afraid of his constant exposure to danger, he had but 
one answer: 'If they kill me, the next man will be just as bad for them; and in 







TOMB OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AT SPRINGFIELD. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 725 

The attack upon the President was so sudden and unex- 
pected, that for a moment the, audience was unable to move. 
The screams of Mrs. Lincoln revealed the extent of the disaster, 
and the next moment the assassin was seen to leap to the stage. 
The cry was raised to stop the wretch, but he escaped. A rush 
was then made for the President's box, where all was in confusion. 
The doors were fastened, however, and only two surgeons, who 
chanced to be in the audience, were admitted. Mr. Lincoln's 
head had fallen forward immediately upon receiving the fatal 
bullet. His eyes were closed, and it was evident that he had 
been unconscious from the moment of his wound. He was con- 
veyed to a house opposite the theatre, and Surgeon-General 
Barnes and several prominent physicians were summoned. The 
wound was found to be mortal ; but the President gave no indi- 
cation of suffering. He lay, with his eyes closed, in an uncon- 
scious condition, and so lingered through the night. At twenty- 
two minutes past seven o'clock on the morning of the 15th of 
April, Abraham Lincoln breathed his last, surrounded by the 
members of his family and his Cabinet Ministers, — falling asleep 
so gently and sweetly, that those about him knew that he 
was dead only by the absence of respiration. 

The body was conveyed to the Executive Mansion, where 
appropriate funeral services were held on the 19th of April. 
The body was then laid in state in the Capitol until the morn- 
ing of April 2 1st, when it was taken from Washington en route 
to Springfield for burial. The route lay through Baltimore, 
Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleve- 
land, Columbus, Indianapolis and Chicago. All along the way 
the people poured out to pay the last honors to the martyred 
President. Cities were draped in mourning, and every evidence 
of the sorrow that filled the hearts of the American people 
was given. Never since the death of Washington had such an 
outburst of sorrow been witnessed in America. Even in the 
South, which had made the election of Abraham Lincoln the 

a country like this, where our habits are simple, and must be, assassination is always 
possible, and wi 11 come, if they are determined upon it.' ' It would never do,' he 
said upon another occasion, * for a President to have guards with drawn sabres at 
his door, as if he fancied he were, or were trying to be, or were assuming to be, 
an emjDeror.' " 



72-6 AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 

occasion of the dissolution of the Union, the unaffected and 
manly virtues of this great and good man had conquered the 
people, who had come to regard him as their friend. His 
death was sincerely lamented there, and in the lamentation of 
his former enemies Abraham Lincoln had his proudest tri- 
umph. Springfield was reached on the 2d of May, and the 
body was laid in state in the Capitol, where it remained until 
the 4th, when it was buried. The day was generally observed 
throughout the Union.^ 

The great work accomplished by Mr. Lincoln, in saving the 
Union from the danger of final disruption, and the masterly 
manner in which he performed it, have placed him second to 
Washington only in the affections of the American people. 
He was great in his simplicity of character; a true man in 
every relation of life ; and the faithful and devoted servant of 
his countiy. His sound practical common sense and his in- 
corruptible integrity guided him with unerring certainty amid 
the difficulties of the situation in which he was placed, and 
enabled him to perform his duty with singleness of heart and 
disinterested patriotism. He steadily improved with his op- 

^ Booth, who was most probably insane, had drawn quite a number of persons 
into a conspiracy, which had for its object the murder of the President and Vice- 
President, and of Secretaries Seward and Stanton and Chief Justice Chase. The 
plot failed through the unexpected movements of some of the intended victims, and 
the cowardice of some of the conspirators. The only victims were the President 
and Secretary Seward, the latter of whom was badly wounded by the assassin sent 
to despatch him. Booth, after escaping from the theatre, fled into Lower Mary- 
land, accompanied by one of the conspirators, a young man named Harold. The 
two crossed the Potomac, and took refuge in Virginia. They were pursued by 
the Government detectives and a squadron of cavalry, and were tracked to a bam 
on a farm in Caroline county, Virginia, between Bowling Green and Port Royal. 
Here they were surrounded on the 26th of April. Harold surrendered himself, but 
Booth, refusing to yield, was shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett, and died a few 
hours later, after suffering intensely. His accomplices were arrested, and were 
brought to trial before a military commission at Washington. Payne, or Powell, 
Atzerot, Harold and Mrs. Surratt vi^ere condemned to death, and were hanged on 
the 7th of July, 1865, for complicity in the plot. Dr. Mudd, O'Laughlin and 
Arnold were imprisoned in the Dry Tortugas for life, and Spangler for six years. 

What Booth expected to accomplish by his horrible deed yet remains a mystery. 
It is now generally believed that he was insane — rendered so by his dissipated 
habits — and in this state of mind conceived the idea that Mr. Lincoln was a tyrant, 
and as such ought to be put to death. He had no accomplices in the South, and 
his infamous deed was regarded with horror by the Southern people. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



727 



portunities, and during his four years of power established a 
reputation for sound wisdom and practical statesmanship, which 
will endure as long as the country for which he labored and 
gave his life shall exist among the nations of the earth. 




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